


Seers

by TheWildeBard



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And so here I am, But this is pretty cool, Eren Jeager was actually in it, FORGIVE ME ME BEAUTIFUL BABIES!!!, I don't think I saw him, I even woke up laughing the other night, I literally have no idea, I love urban fantasy, I love you all though, I was going to write it down and turn it into a real-life fanfiction type thing, I was writing an original and then WHOOPS! TRASH MODE ACTIVATED, I'll try to be better!!, I'm 22 and I'm still this much trash, I've also been having some funky dreams recently, I've been neglectful!!!, It's something that I haven't read before, Multi, NOW I CAN'T REMEMBER THE HILARIOUS ONE-LINERS CHRIS HEMSWORTH WAS COMING OUT WITH, So I Ran With It, Sorry for my long absense, and so I thought I'd write one, because you are so kind to me, but I was too tired and against better judgement I went back to sleep, but the actual character, even though I suck, he was just in the kitchen yelling, idek, it was trippy, like the character, not the voice actors, then it became a fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2018-11-08 16:33:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11085552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWildeBard/pseuds/TheWildeBard
Summary: Want to read an SNK AU? A Reader Insert? Urban Fantasy? WELL HERE IT IS!! The fic no-one has been waiting for... *Drum roll* TheWildeBard presents:SEERS!***"I’m what is called a Seer. It’s an incredibly unoriginal term for someone like me. Someone who can see things that the rest of you can’t. I see, hear, smell, and sense things that are otherworldly. Hence, the rules. I know them well. I’ve had to learn them over the years, and because of my gift it’s kept me alive. But it’s also gotten me into a lot of trouble, too. I was only ten when I found out that following the voice that calls you by name during the summer… it’s a very bad idea. It was only because I could hear the low thrum of the growls, and smell the putrid stench of the creature’s breath that I took cover behind a bush to try to see what it was. It was a Wendigo."





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, I made a thing. I don't even know what this is, okay? It started off as an original piece, and then I found myself modelling a character after Levi, and any other name seemed so wrong... so it became this. But hey, maybe once I'm finished I can rework it slightly and publish it! It worked for E.L. James, right?? 
> 
> It's a Modern Day AU/urban fantasy... thing. I've never seen an urban fantasy SNK fic, so I thought WHY NOT!! (But just because I can, doesn't necessarily mean I should...)  
> Erwin and Mike are a thing because they remind me of two of my OC that I created before I'd ever heard of SNK, and I fangirled so much when I saw the scene in Erwin's office for the first time!! I was just like, "THAT'S TEOTHAN AND ANESSEN!!" and so I'm super protective of these two. *sobs into infinity* 
> 
> ALSO!!! A random piece of trivia, I actually cosplayed Erwin Smith to MCM last year and Rai-con. It was my first ever cosplay, and I was so uncomfortable as a guy, I swear to GOD!!! But the eyebrows were spectacularly painted on by my Fiancee, so, that was fun. 
> 
> ANYWAY!!! Here is my newest fic!! It's pretty long chapter, at about 4,500 words and 7 pages on Google Docs. ENJOY IT MY PRETTIES!!

I know the rules better than ordinary people. I know what to do, what not to do, and how to take care of myself. The kinds of things out there are truly terrifying. Humans are basic. They are predictable, especially compared to the things I’ve had to deal with. I remember hearing about the serial killer that was targeting young women in my city; all my friends were too terrified to go out during the day, let alone at night. But not me. I went out regardless, unafraid of the stupid, predictable mortal that thought he was cunning. Thought he was scary. After five minutes I realised that I was his next intended victim, and after another ten, I’d knocked him unconscious and called the police in tears pretending that he’d attacked me and I had gotten in a lucky hit. I didn’t tell them that I could tell he was following me the moment he looked at me. I didn’t tell them that I lured him down the alley way and ambushed him. I didn’t tell them that I was adept at hand to hand combat. And I certainly didn’t tell them that I had killed multiple people. 

 

You see, I’m what is called a Seer. It’s an incredibly unoriginal term for someone like me. Someone who can see things that the rest of you can’t. I see, hear, smell, and sense things that are otherworldly. Hence, the rules. I know them well. I’ve had to learn them over the years, and because of my gift it’s kept me alive. But it’s also gotten me into a lot of trouble, too. I was only ten when I found out that following the voice that calls you by name during the summer… it’s a  _ very _ bad idea. It was only because I could hear the low thrum of the growls, and smell the putrid stench of the creature’s breath that I took cover behind a bush to try to see what it was. It was a Wendigo. I was downwind, luckily. It has the ability to imitate the voice of a friend or loved one, and calls out to you hoping that you are foolish enough to be lured into its clutches. As soon as I saw it I ran, and didn’t stop until I got home and under my covers. I didn’t leave the house for a week after that. 

 

And then I had to go to therapy because my parents thought I was mad. 

 

I was put on all kinds of medications, all kinds of therapy treatments, hell, I was even baptised  _ and _ exorcised but I still saw those things. And it wasn’t until one of them attacked me one night that I realised how very real it all was. It wasn’t in my mind. It was  _ real _ . The dripping fangs, the sharp talons, glowing eyes, twisted faces, blood dripping maws, unnatural height and strength, and the feeling of complete and utter dread that accompanied them all. I can sense one a mile off. The world slows, the winds turn colder, the acid in my stomach roils, my ears ring, and a voice in my head tells me to run as fast and as far as I can. I never do. Not any more. 

 

Not until this precise moment, that is. 

 

I  _ know _ not to follow that damned voice that calls on the summer wind. I know full well what waits for me, but I got so damn sick and tired of the calling. Year after year for fifteen damn years my name has floated on the summer breeze and sent a chill down my spine. And I was sick of it. So, me being me, I grabbed my pack and stomped out to the graveyard to meet the Wendigo one last time. Or so I thought. I got there and tracked it through the woods behind the graveyard, stalked through the overgrown bushes, stilling every time I heard a crunch or a growl carried by the wind. I wielded my knife for three hours this evening, and found nothing. I stomped back towards my suburban apartment in a foul mood thinking that I was going to have to put up with that annoying as shit calling for another year when that familiar dread fell over me.  _ Run. Go now. Keep going and don’t look back. Something wrong has come _ , the voice urged. I ignored it, gritting my teeth and cursing myself a fool for not carrying a knife on my actual person. It would be too obvious to take my bag off and pull out a knife. I was in a public place, on a well used footpath in the middle of summer. I just grit my teeth and kept on walking, waiting until the voice screeched at me to run. 

 

Only two minutes ago did the voice near deafen me when it screamed in my head at me to run for my stupid life. And so I did. I burst into a sprint just as a breeze blew behind me and I heard a commotion of twigs and branches snapping from my right. The debris hit the backs of my legs, my arse, my back, and my head, but I kept on running, focusing on my breathing and pushing myself to  _ keep running _ . I can smell the putrid stench that I had when I was a kid, intensified by another fifteen years of feasting on animals and living in its own filth. My heart was beating so quickly I thought it would pop out of my chest, or my lungs would burst open as I tried to calm my panicked breathing down enough so that I could keep running. My mind was buzzing with possible places to run to. Where the fuck should I go to keep this thing from being seen by the public? These things weren’t invisible to them, so I had to hurry. 

 

I remembered the gully that was a little bit away and mentally prepared myself for the sprint. It was partially uphill, and it was a straight shot down the path, which meant I had to try and outrun it with speed alone. Unless… 

 

I took a split second to decide before I suddenly changed direction, running towards the Wendigo and peeled off to the left, back where it had come from, narrowly avoiding the clawed hand that shot for me. I could out maneuver it in the forest, amongst the trees but I wouldn’t stand a chance outrunning it. Although I knew how to fight these things, I knew that my speed was severely lacking. But my stamina wasn’t. I could lead it around the forest, zig-zagging around the trees, ducking and diving until I got to the Gully. Hopefully there were no kids there today. 

 

I grimaced as I thought that I’d have to get Levi to help me train for sprinting now, too. He was a sour, grumpy, arsehole of a man. Five years my senior and I already knew what he would be like in another fifty years. He’d just growl at me, tell me to get running, and then put me through the most grueling training regime I’ve even experienced. My mood soured even more, my adrenalin pumping through my veins and I pushed harder, scowling as the thought of dealing with Levi later ran through my head. I had a great respect for the guy, don’t get me wrong. He helped me understand about my gift, and he helped me learn the rules, but he was an insensitive, rude, emotionless shit of a man. And he happened to get on each and every one of my nerves every time I saw him. 

 

Up ahead I saw the Gully and I listened out for any laughter, shouting, or signs that there was anyone in there. Nothing. I pushed myself harder as I felt the shirt on my back sticking to the slick surface. My hair was sticking to my head, and I felt my hands beginning to sweat, too. I plunged into the Gully, not caring about tripping, and inevitably ended up falling down to the bottom. I rolled to my feet, grunting at the pain in my side as I hit a rock on my way down, and flung my bag off as I ran up the other side. I heard the sound of the Wendigo as it plunged into the Gully and I ripped open my bag and pulled out my knife. Turning around, I threw my bag away and faced the creature that was heading straight for me. I only had a brief shot. I took up a fighting stance, feet apart, knees bent, and knife ready to stab. As the Wendigo got closer I found my mark and lunged. I ducked as it tried to grab me and thrust my knife into its chest and kept on pushing. 

 

The thing clattered to the ground, roaring in pain, thrashing around wildly. I staggered backwards out of the way of its thrashing limbs and collapsed in a heap and watched as it fell to the middle of the Gully. I fell back, sighing and closed my eyes for a moment, catching my breath. It was done. I’d killed the damn thing that had been calling my name for fifteen damn years. 

 

And now I had to get rid of the damned body. 

“Well, fuck.” I sighed to myself. I sat up and leaned over to grab my bag - only just managing to grab it without having to stand - and pulled out my phone, still huffing from my mad dash for life. 

“What?” the voice on the other end ground out. I could hear the buzzing of the tattoo parlour in the background. I scowled and puffed out an irritated sigh. 

“Nice to speak to you, too, Levi. I need your help.” 

“What this time?” 

“I, uh, need you to bring a silver axe, lighter fluid, salt and some matches. And maybe a metal bin of some kind.” I tentatively asked, wincing at the still flailing body in the bottom of the Gully. I knew I’d gotten its heart, but who knew it’d take so long to just  _ die _ . 

“You followed that fucking voice, didn’t you?” He snapped. 

“Hey! You try having your name called out for fifteen years! It’s irritating. I just-  _ snapped _ , dude!” A sigh. I could imagine him holding the bridge of his nose and a small smile graced my features at that thought. 

“What do you have with you?”

“Uh…” I rifled through my pack, noting the sketchbook, the book of occult symbols, the lighter, and a small scrap of silk that I carried around all the time. 

 

I picked it up gently and felt a knot in my stomach.  _ Run. Keep as far away from it as you can _ , the voice whispered in abject horror. You know, the kind of fear that is beyond panic. The cool and calm fear that you have when you think about the Mafia and you know that you’re never going to fuck with them and get involved in  _ any  _ of that shit. It’s not that scary because you know as long as they don’t have business with you then you’re safe, but they’re still enough to make you crap your own body weight three times over. Yeah, it’s that kind of fear. The fear of something big. The big kahuna of the Other Realm. 

“Shithead, are you there? Did you suddenly keel over from uselessness?” Levi certainly had a way with words. 

“Yes, I did, actually. I expect a touching memorial at the Wings, and I will haunt you if I don’t get one good enough.”

“I do have iron, salt, silver, and a whole host of wards and containment spells at my disposal. You’d be fucked as soon as you enter the building.” 

“Ooh, is that a promise, Daddy?” I teased. I could just imagine him closing his eyes in frustration, taking a breath to keep calm and I swallowed my laugh. “I like those iron chains of yours. Perhaps you put them to good use…” I tried to sound as sultry as I could. 

“It’s rude to take a shit whilst you’re on the phone, you animal.” I rolled my eyes at the usual shit joke. For some reason he has a thing about shit. Maybe it was a fetish… 

“I have a lighter, so you needn’t bring one. An occult book, and that’s it, really. Why?” 

“I’ll send Hange to help you hide the body until me and Erwin get there. We’ll cut the body up and take it to the compound to burn rather than a public place.” I nodded at that. 

“Good plan. I’m at the Gully in the forest behind the graveyard in-” 

“I know where you are.” 

“How?” I spun around to see if I could see anyone. 

“No one is spying on you. You forgot that we track each other’s phones.” 

“Ah, yes. Nothing spy like about tracing a phone.” I mumbled. 

“I’m sending Hange to help you cover the body. She’ll be there soon.” He abruptly hung up on me and I frowned. Did he have to be so rude, damn it?

 

Ten minutes passed of me pacing the edge of the Gully, knife concealed in the elastic of my underwear under my skirt when Hange called out. 

“Hey, y/n!” She bounced over and I smiled as she pulled me in for a tight hug. 

“Hey, Hange.” 

“So, where is it?” Her eyes shimmered and I could just feel the drool coming on. 

“Okay, well before you start drooling, let me remind you that we are in public.” Hange tilted her head in confusion. 

“You will be arrested for any sexual activity in a public place.” I told her as I marched down to the body. Mercifully it had stopped twitching. At least, I thought he had. I shrieked as it twitched once again, staggering backwards and making Hange snigger. I scowled at her and levelled a look at her. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll just keep this in the Vault until I’m alone in my room tonight.” she commented merrily. I snorted at her and took a step back, letting her take a look. “Levi said you had an occult book with you?” 

“Uh, yeah.” I grabbed my pack and tossed it to her. “It’s in there. Along with matches, my sketchbook, and…” I trailed off. Hange glanced at me and I just smiled at her and shrugged taking a seat on the ground. 

“Okay, well, I’ll just take a quick look to see if there is any glamouring spells in here.” She flicked through the book, making the occasional grunt, or an “Oooh!” at the various spells. 

 

Hange was a total alchemy geek, and a fan of the occult in a big way. Most people like us are, but she went above and beyond. I’d go as far as to call it an obsession. She loved these creatures. I’m sure she’d keep them as a pet if she could. The witches around the city knew of her, and she had a pretty good relationship with them all, which was definitely handy when we needed some information, or some supplies. But she also tried to convince Erwin Smith, the current leader of our little… establishment, to keep some creatures alive and in captivity. A big no was her answer. Although, she did manage to get a few Kelpies in the compound once. Someone killed them, though, and Hange cried for hours about it. Well, until Levi told her to get a grip, and compared her to a Banshee, which then lead to a whole Hange Lecture about Banshees and what they were actually like, and how cool they were, and how they were portrayed in folklore, blah blah. Then Levi silenced her by grabbing her mouth and telling her in no uncertain terms to “Shut up, now”. Hange of course paid no attention and continued to talk, following an even more crabby Levi to his office where he promptly slammed the door in her face. 

 

“Ah! Here’s a good one!” Hange cried as she jumped on the spot. She dumped her bag on the ground and I peered inside. I let out a low whistle. 

“Wow. How much shit do you carry around?” In her bag was more or less the entire contents of her ingredient pantry. She ignored my question as she pulled out jars and bottles of various things and then shoved her bag aside. She thrust the book in my face and I reeled back slightly to avoid a bloodied nose. 

“Draw this symbol at the North, East, South, and Western edges of the Gully.” I glanced at the image and it was a runic symbol, Odin’s Illusionary Rune. It looked like a J and T combined, with the number four attached and a tiny U on the end. Slightly. It had more embellishments to it, and was enclosed in a circle, but that’s the general gist of it. I snapped a picture of it with my phone and looked at her. 

“Any particular method for drawing it? In salt, stones…?” 

“Nah, just carve it into the dirt with a stick. That way it’ll wear off after a while and the local ankle biters can resume their playtime.” She gestured to a condom packet on the ground. “As can the local exhibitionists.” I chuckled at her and saluted as I headed up the banks of the Gully. Hange just got to work mixing the ingredients with a pestle and mortar as I carved the symbol. After a few minutes Hange climbed up and followed me around. I looked up at her, squinting at her. 

“What’s up?” 

“Nothing. I just need to know when you’re done so I can finish the mixture.” I nodded and finished the last symbol before I stood up and looked at her.

“All done.” Hange grabbed my hand and stabbed my finger with a needle. Hard. “OUCH! What are you doing you fucking psychopath?” 

“I needed your blood for the mix.” She shrugged. I looked at her in disbelief as she grabbed my hand and squeezed my finger, catching the scarlet liquid that dribbled out. 

“Ever heard of asking?” She just raised her eyebrows at me like I was a simpleton. 

“You hate needles.” 

“Yeah, and doing this,” I waved my still bleeding finger in her face, “isn’t helping with that.” I pouted at my finger, looking for all the world like a child who’d dropped her ice cream. “What do you even need this for, anyway?” 

“So you can  _ see _ the Gully past the glamour.” I looked at her incredulously. 

“I’m a Seer!” 

“Oh, yeah... Well, it’s so you can pass the barrier, too. This is an amnesia spell.” 

“What about Erwin and Levi?” A blank look settled on my features, still clutching at my hand - which was still throbbing from having a needle jabbed into it - and she blinked at me. 

“Y/n, do you think I’m stupid?” 

“You don’t want me to answer that.” I told her as I began to stalk back to the Gully. 

“I got their blood before I left. They’ll be perfectly fine.” She started to sprinkle the mixture around. 

“With you around all the time, none of us are perfectly fine.” Hange just ignored me as she continued sprinkling and I sat down and fussed over my finger. It  _ still _ throbbed. 

 

It was about a half hour before Levi and Erwin showed up. Levi stalked down the hill with a bag slung over his shoulder and a blank expression on his face, even when his eyes beheld the slain Wendigo. Erwin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and I wondered if Levi had actually told the blond what he was dragged along for. The shorter man was wearing his usual; jeans and a t-shirt, both of which were figure hugging, and showing off his bountiful tattoos. His jet black hair flopped into his face, and I could smell cigarette smoke and tea when he got closer to me. It was comforting. I’d known him since I was fifteen, and he’d been the first person that believed I wasn’t mad. I couldn’t break that bond, not that I’d ever want to. As rough and rude as he was, I never wanted to live a day without him in my life. 

“It’s about time, Curtains!” I called as I stood up, my knees popping. He frowned. 

“Well, if you weren’t so unprepared I wouldn’t have had to hunt down the things you told me to bring you.” His deep monotone voice soothed my nerves, which I wasn’t aware needed soothing until now. 

“Curtains?” Hange questioned. 

“Uh-huh. His hair.” I imitated his hair with my index fingers. Levi just pinned me with a stare and Hange just laughed. Erwin shook his head and put two bags on the ground. 

“Okay, well I’ll take the torso, Hange the head, Levi the arms, and Y/N the legs.” Erwin told us all. 

“Is this a formal occasion and no-one told us?” 

 

Erwin, as usual, was wearing a shirt and pants. Although, Erwin didn’t have a jacket, and his sleeves were pushed up. He looked at me and just said, “I’m not wearing a tie.” and took the bag from Levi’s hand. 

“You have a cheek to talk about anyone’s clothes. Who wears a skirt when they track a Wendigo?” I looked over to Levi who was pinning me with a slightly condescending look. 

“Hey, it’s not like I dressed this morning for this. I just heard the voice and snapped. I grabbed my bag and headed out to stop it. And this,” I gestured at my clothes with broad sweeping motions, nearly slapping Hange as I did, “is what I happened to be wearing, alright?” Levi just looked away, disinterested as always and I stuck my tongue out at him. 

 

He grabbed the axe as Erwin was examining the body. I could see the muscles in Levi’s back moving and I just stared unashamedly. I knew a hottie when I saw one, and life is too short to waste on not appreciating the finer things in life. Like Levi’s arse. That man had a damn fine tush. Erwin stood back and Levi began to chop up the body. His muscles pulled and tensed more as he swung and pulled, swung and pulled… His hands were strong and held the shaft of the axe with a firm grip and I glazed over for a moment, wondering what it would be like with those hands on my body. 

“You done drooling, brat?” I zoned back and saw that Levi had caught me ogling him. I held up a finger, leaned back, and squinted as I tilted my head to the side. I gazed at his arse a bit longer before I took a breath and nodded. 

“All done.” I winked at him and he frowned at me making me smirk. 

“Just get over here and help us with this damn thing. The quicker I get finished the quicker I can wash this filth off me.” Disdain was filling those slate coloured eyes and the disgusted sneer made me smile. He had a thing about dirt and filth, and it was kind of sweet, really. 

 

Levi hadn’t had a particularly great childhood. He lived in a very poor area with his mother until she died when he was young, and he never knew who his father was. Before she’d died she’d told him that he was a Seer and that the things he saw were real, and he was just like her. When he told me that, I was surprised. I had developed this gift randomly rather than inheriting it from a family member like most people do, so I didn’t know that everyone else had grown up being taught about their gift. After that, he was lived with his Uncle Kenny for a while before he ran away and lived on the streets. He took to drink, drugs, and fighting, got arrested constantly, and ran a gang for a while. 

 

Erwin found him one day when he was around eighteen and offered him a job in the bar, which he reluctantly took. Erwin found out that Levi was a Seer when he saw him chasing around a Brownie who had been angry that the milk hadn’t been left out as it usually was for a month, and so trashed the place. Erwin had apologised to the Brownie and explained about the change of staff, and promised to give him double milk for two months to make up for it. Ever since then Levi had been a part of the small group that took care of Other Realm problems. Like Wendigoes. 

 

“Mind if I watch?” I quipped flirtily, lifting my eyebrows in a seductive way. Levi looked at me for a moment and then smirked. 

“Alright, brat.” Levi threw the axe on the ground and stalked towards me slowly. “Then, I can use those chains on you.” I gasped in mock excitement. “But,” he paused, voice now low, gazing down at me with a small, near imperceptible smile on his face. He leaned down to me ear and whispered, “only if you call me ‘Daddy’.” I swallowed the laugh that threatened to escape and tugged on his shirt. 

“Anything you say, Daddy.” I lowered my voice imitating Levi, and gave him an exaggerated wink. He snorted and went back to the body, ignoring the two gaping titans behind them. 

“Why do you both do that?” Hange muttered, shaking her head. “Just bone and get it over with already.”

“What, right now? Oh, well you and Erwin may want to leave first. We’ll only be two minutes.” I smirked at them and Levi, not missing a beat, quipped, 

“I don’t know the kind of men you’re screwing, but if they’re only lasting two minutes, then you’ve been severely let down.” I skipped over to Levi’s side to put the legs in a bag. 

“Who said they were men?” I quirked an eyebrow at him and he gifted me with a rare look of appraisal. 

“Ymir will be happy to hear that.” I snorted. 

“She’s too busy trying to extract herself from Christa’s friendzone to prey on anyone else.” 

 

We had packed up all of the limbs and left the Gully, and I broke the circle by smudging one of the symbols. A sound similar to the fizzle of a firework after it’s gone off sounded, and threads glittered around the Gully. It was the threads of the glamour unraveling. Only Seers could see or hear this, and it was one of my favourite things about being a Seer. It was so pretty seeing the glamours. You could see the threads occasionally which was a telltale sign that someone, or some _ thing _ , was using one. We could then focus and unpick this glamour allowing us to see behind it. My other favourite thing were the people I’d met. Especially Levi. 

 

Because, yes, he  _ was _ an insensitive, rude, emotionless shit of a man, but I was still in love with the bastard. 


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a filler chapter really, building up an image of the universe and the characters. But the next one will be a bit more plot and romance heavy. I like my slow progression through plot, and I thought that I could put in a shorter chapter than my usual chapters. This one feels slightly lacklustre to me, but I'm really keen to hurry up and get to the action to be honest. I've never been good writing things like this. As much as I enjoy these parts, I'm better at the main action and the juicy parts really... xD 
> 
> ANYWAY! Enjoy this chapter, and I hope it at least gives you a bit of a laugh. It did me.

It wasn’t just us Seers at the Compound. We took in kids that had been orphaned because of the Other Realm, and we also let Regulars help with the hunting. Only a few, and  _ very  _ carefully vetted. There were people who considered us Other, too. The vast majority of Hunters thought we were from the Other Realm and would kill us if they found out that we were, some Hunters thought we were freaks but let us be, and an even smaller portion actually accepted that we were human and wanted to help us. 

 

The Compound, or HQ as I liked to call it, was based in an old abandoned factory building. It was glamoured to still look old and decrepit, and warded so people would just keep away. A lot of Urban Explorers liked to try and look around but they were often discouraged by the wards and decided against it as they got closer. The building was registered under Erwin’s name, and whenever anyone called trying to purchase the building he would shoot them down in his usual polite and professional way. If Levi ever answered one of their calls... well. There was a reason Erwin had forbidden him from answering his phone any more. 

 

_ “I torture you,  _

_ Take my hand through the flames,  _

_ I torture you,  _

_ I’m just a sucker for pain.” _

 

The song blared out through the dining hall as I ate my food. I grabbed food with the kids today, too lazy to go home and cook for myself tonight. Hange was at the opposite end of the hall bobbing along to the song, along with me, when Levi walked in and frowned. 

“Will you turn this shit off, four-eyes!” He growled at her. 

“It’s not me!” 

“Well, who is it?” He looked around the hall and we made eye contact. I raised both my arms in the air, palms to the ceiling, and bobbed along to the beat, with a deadpan look on my face, maintaining eye contact with him. 

“Turn it off.” He ordered. 

“As long as you,” I waited for a moment and joined in singing, adjusting the lyrics slightly to address Levi, “Chain me up, tie me down. I’m just a sucker for pain.” 

 

A snigger travelled through the kids in the hall, all of them keeping their eyes down at their meals, or their friends. Levi scowled at the lot of them and walked over to me. He reached for my phone and I snatched it up before he could grab it and retreated a few steps away. 

“You’ll have to fight me for it,  _ Daddy _ .” I mocked him, a smirk on my face. Levi just stared at me with his usual bored expression. 

“You do remember that it was me that taught you how to fight, idiot?” I shrugged at him as I swayed my hips to the music. Hange shook her head and just left the room laughing as she went back to her lab, and I wiggled my eyebrows at Levi. He sighed through his nose and walked towards me. It took him a whopping three seconds to have me on my back as he pried the phone from my grip. 

“Hey! You fought dirty!” 

“Tch. I’ve told you, there’s no such thing. If you’re fighting, you fight to win.” He leaned closer to my face as he told me that, his face stern. I frowned at him and pouted like a child. Levi stopped the music and dumped the phone on my stomach before standing up and walking off. “You’re working in the bar tonight, by the way.” I sat bolt upright. 

“No I’m not!” 

“Yes you are.”

“Why?” Levi paused and looked over his shoulder at me. 

“Because you’ve been pissing me off.” I scowled at him and flipped him the bird before he left. 

“Y/N!” One of the kids, a little girl called June, hissed. I looked at her with a small smile on my face. “You shouldn’t do that to Levi! He’ll shout at you.” My heart squeezed. The poor thing was intimidated by him. 

 

Levi never really interacted with the kids, it was usually myself or Christa that would look after them, and Erwin was the one they looked up to as their stoic protector. Hange was the one they either adored or dreaded. She was adored for her quirky and scatty personality, or dreaded for her proclivity for giving a lecture when asked about something she was interested in. Eren had made the mistake of asking her about some occult ritual and she talked his ear off for hours, and Armin wasn’t any help since he was enjoying the lesson. The poor kid couldn’t get away from her, and I wasn’t going to jump into that. I may be slightly reckless, but I’m not stupid. That’s one bullet I _wasn’t_ going to take. 

 

But Levi was always seen with his somewhat stern expression, and to a kid that is intimidating. When I met him he kind of intimidated me, but I’m the kind of person that tackles that head on, and so I found out that he’s not all bad. Actually, for all the shit he puts out there, it’s easy to see that it’s a defense mechanism after a while. He’s actually a loyal guy that would do anything for his friends, and he’s perfect for this line of work; Levi hates unnecessary deaths and will do everything in his power to prevent an innocent person dying. Although, without knowing him, he seems like a rude, easily riled jerk.

 

I smiled at June and took a seat across from her. The kids around her all gaped at me and I beckoned them all with my finger and leaned forward, my head low to the table. They all leaned in and I glanced around the room before smiling at them all. 

“I’ll tell you all a secret.” They were all so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Whispering, I told them, “I’m the monster under his bed.” I put my finger to my lips as I pulled away. I could see a few kids frowning, and one even muttered, “What’s she talking about?” and another voice muttered back, “She means that he’s scared of her.” I nodded as I stood up and winked at them all as understanding dawned on their faces and I breezed out of the room. I laughed heartily as I walked off to Hange’s lab to bug her, head down and my hand on my forehead. 

“What’s the joke?” A deep voice asked. I looked up and saw Erwin’s bright blues smiling down at me. I grinned up at him and shrugged. He was wearing similar clothes to earlier, but his hair was wet so I assumed he’d showered after burning the Wendigo corpse. 

“Just educating the students.” I smirked and Erwin just raised his eyebrows. 

“I hope we don’t have a repeat of last time.” He warned and I erupted into a fit of giggling. I shook my head and pat him on the shoulder as I walked off still giggling as I remembered that last “lesson”. 

 

I had told the kids that Eren was a pyromancer - a mage that could conjure fire from air - and that when he gets angry the flames just start to appear. I told them that the only way to protect yourself, and calm him down, was to squirt water in his face. They all carried water bottles around with them, and whenever Eren got passionate about something, one or more of them would run up to him and squirt him in the face with their little bottles. It was one of the funniest things I’d seen. I still pat myself on the back for that one sometimes. He was squirted regularly for weeks before he finally stormed up to me and yelled at me for it. Of course, I’d been ready for weeks, and threw the contents of my bottle on him. I spent the rest of the day running and hiding from him until Erwin told the kids that Eren wasn’t a pyromancer, and they should stop squirting him. Eren hated me for days after, and had charged all his beer and liquor in the bar to my tab for the next month after. It was still worth it, though. 

“Brat.”

 

I turned around and saw Levi leaning in the doorway to his office. I lifted my eyebrows in silent question. He used to call me “Brat” when I was younger because, in all honesty, I was a brat. I used to bitch and moan about everything. Teenage angst I guess. But it’s something he keeps up, and now it’s more of a term of endearment. He’d told me as much himself before when I asked him about it one night. We’d been up researching for a case and I asked him outright. He told me that it wasn’t because he thought I was a brat anymore, but just because it was a habit. When I asked him if that meant he liked me he answered curtly, telling me I was one of the only people he could stand. Which in Levi-speak is code for ‘we’re friends’. 

“I need to borrow some books of yours.” I nodded at him and fished my keys from my pack. I went to throw them at him and he shook his head. “I’ll just wait until you go home and come with you.” I frowned. 

“Why don’t you just go look for them yourself?”

“Because you’re a fucking animal. Your apartment is a disaster. I don’t know how you find anything.” He grumbled. 

“Oh, Levi, you  _ do _ know how to flatter a girl.” I fanned myself with a smile and then schooled my face into a neutral expression. Levi just watched me, unamused as always. 

“Just let me know before you go home and I’ll come with you.” He told me and then slammed his office door. 

“You’re welcome!” I shouted at the door before walking off down the corridor and to the basement. 

 

 

Hange was a creep. I love her, but she lived in the basement. Even though my main occupation is to hunt and kill the things that go bump in the night, I still know that basements are creepy as all hell. Hange, however, seems to think they are the perfect place to spend all of your time. 

“Yoohoo!” I called, my voice echoing all around. I stopped to listen for a moment, hoping to hear her voice somewhere down here. I heard clattering and a series of swearing and pointed in the direction of the noise.”This way, then.” I commented to myself. 

 

I caught myself sneaking through the dark, decrepit basement, breathing slow and steady, and keeping my eyes and ears alert. I even noticed how I'd retreated so far into myself that I'd been moving automatically as I cast my awareness into my core; the thing that happened naturally when I'm hunting for Other Realmers. I have to be aware of the little senses I get because I can't always see if they are hiding, but I can always  _feel_ their presence. It's a part of being a Seer, I guess. I stopped moving for a second and composed myself. I was at HQ. It was perfectly safe.  _It is Hange, though. She may have something lurking in here that she intended to study..._ I shook the thought from my head. I would have sensed it as soon as I entered the basement. 

Hange was bent over her bench, goggles over her eyes as she had her face close to a purple powder. The alchemy equipment was complicated and slightly intimidating. How did she know how to use it all? There were piles of books on the desks, sheets of paper covered in her chicken scratch, empty bottle and jars littering any available surface, and the cot with messed up bed sheets. Hange often slept in her lab, regardless of her room being a short minute walk down the corridor at the back. She told us that it was so she could power nap as she brewed things, and that really made people panic. Hange asleep as she cooked up spells and potions...? That was dangerous. Especially considering Hange never followed the rules. She was always trying to find new and exciting things to help in our work. 

“Yo.” I greeted her as I slung myself onto the cot. 

“Hey.” She replied somewhat distractedly. 

“Whatcha doing?” 

“I’m testing out a new compound of alchemical ingredients and seeing if they work on breaking wards.” 

“And do they.” 

“Not yet.” I nodded. 

“Fair enough.” I watched her work for a minute before sighing. “Can I borrow a towel? I need to shower and change.” 

“Why?” Hange didn’t even look up from her experiment. 

“Lord Shithead has put me on for the bar tonight so I can’t go home.”

"Trouble in paradise?" She glanced at me, a wry smile dancing on her lips. I rolled my eyes. 

"No, no trouble, he just said I'd been irritating him." I paused for a minute before grinning mischievously. "Which I fully agree with." Hange just snorted. 

"You didn't deny the part about paradise though." She was still tinkering with her chemicals and I was glad she wasn't looking at me because I could feel my face heat up.  

"Shut up." I muttered refusing to look at her. Hange laughed at me. 

“Sure. There should be a spare towel in my room.” 

“Cheers.” I slid off the cot, kissed Hange’s cheek and bid her good luck with the experiment. 

 

The shower was sheer bliss. The warm water soothed my muscles and I could feel the dirt falling from my body. I groaned in pleasure as I tilted my head back into the stream and massaged the shampoo from Petra’s shop into my hair. The smell of roses smacked me full force in the nose and I sighed happily. Petra was a God send, she really was. She knew how to relax me with scent, and it seemed to cleanse my senses, wiping away any memory of the foul odours of the Wendigo from earlier. Knowing Petra, it was probably doing just that. I swayed to the sound of my music as I enjoyed my shower, occasionally breaking out into song as I joined in with my favourite parts. A knocking on the door reminded me of where I was and I sighed. 

“Just another minute and I’ll be done.” Sighing, I rinsed the conditioner from my hair and shut the water off. I roughly dried my hair off and then wrapped the towel around my body as I opened the door. 

 

Armin’s face turned bright red as he beheld me standing there in nothing but a towel. He opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. I smiled at him. 

“Hey Armin. Sorry I took so long. I forgot I wasn’t at home.” I shrugged as I walked off quickly, hoping to ease the awkwardness from the poor sod. I broke into an awkward tiptoed run as I tried to get into the laundry room quickly to get dressed. Everyone kept a selection of clothes here in case they had to spend the night, needed a change, or were too exhausted to go home. I grabbed a pair of shorts and an old band shirt of my father's. It was pretty big on me, the arm holes were pretty big and showed off the majority of my sides, and the shirt hung past my shorts. I thought about changing it because the shorts had a really nice embroidered design on it, but I just shrugged. I was comfortable, and in this heat, I wasn’t prepared to wear anything else. Although the shirt was big, it let in a lot of air and kept me rather cool. I shoved on fresh underwear and shoved my clothes from the day in the machine. It was Christa’s day for the laundry, so I wasn’t bothered about her handling my underwear. I grabbed a pair of battered brown ankle boots and shoved my feet in them and brushed my fingers through my h/l hair. 

 

I skipped through the corridors as I hummed one of the songs I’d been listening to earlier as I made my way to Levi’s office. Without knocking I breezed in and kicked the door shut. He looked up at me from his work and a small frown appeared. 

“Ever heard of knocking, brat?” He growled at me. I looked at him confused. 

“Knocking? What’s that?” I sniggered at my own joke and threw myself over the couch, lounging rather ungracefully. 

“What the fuck are you wearing?” 

“Clothes.” I stated simply. He just blinked at me. I sighed at him and lifted my shirt. “I have shorts on, don’t worry Sir Prude-alot.” He just went back to his work and I closed my eyes. “By the way, I need your help.” A grunt was my only response so I just continued. “I need you to train me some more.” 

“What for?”

“Sprinting.” I paused for a beat and opened my eyes sitting up. My mood became rather solemn. “That Wendigo would have caught me if I hadn’t cut through the trees.” I said quietly. I watched as I fidgeted with my hands, silently reflecting on how close I truly was. 

 

I had ignored the seriousness of the situation, but now it hit just how reckless I'd been. How close I'd been to being dead right now. I had no backup, no plan of action, and I wasn't even prepared to dispose of the body. I didn't scout the area properly, going against all of Erwin's training. There was a reason we were called The Scouts, after all. And I wasn't a fast enough sprinter. I'd gotten by on my endurance and my aptitude for fighting, but when it came to much stronger opponents, like the Wendigo, the only option is to outrun it until you can get an advantage. I had gotten extremely lucky today. Extremely. _You've used up all of the luck for the rest of your life,_ I thought bleakly. 

“If there hadn’t been a way for me to avoid the straight shot…” I trailed off, unable to finish the thought aloud. Saying the words was much worse than saying them in my head. Levi’s face came into view as he crouched in front of me. I hadn’t even heard him move. His steely eyes looked at my own e/c eyes intently. 

“Don’t think like that, brat.” His voice was soft but still authoritative. A small smile twitched at the corner of my mouth. He maintained eye contact with me, determination clear. “I’ll help you. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you survive.” I just swallowed thickly at the intensity of his gaze and his words. I knew we were close, but this… 

“Thank you.” It came out as a whisper, hoarse and quiet. He nodded at me and walked back to his desk. 

“Now get out. I’m trying to concentrate.” His usual flat tone was back. I closed my eyes and smiled gently, nodding faintly. I reached the door and turned to look over my shoulder at him. 

“See you later. Daddy.” Although my voice was teasing, the smile on my face felt too gentle, too genuine to be anything close to mocking. 

 

I left his office as quickly as I’d entered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter didn't bore you too much. I'll let you know if I end up editing it to have some better content.
> 
> I don't usually like song fics, but I couldn't resist adding in these lines. This song just seems to fit Levi and any relationship he may have. Plus, I have a major thing for this song... (What is it with my use of ellipses and exclamation points recently??) 
> 
> Kudos, Comment, and Request <3


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter. Just as promised, the romance and the plot progress.   
> I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter, even though it's fairly short again. Although, I do think I have the tendency to write long chapters considering for my own personal piece the chapters average 10,000 words and I'm only on chapter five at the moment... It's going to be a long book, I think. 
> 
> But, I digress. Enjoy the chapter. I think I may write one more tonight and then sleep. I've done nothing but write today and listen to the same five songs on repeat. It's been a rather indulgent day, I must say. (Oooh, that rhymed!!)

Levi grunted in disapproval as he walked into my living room. He’d only been here once before, and had thoroughly disapproved of the mess then as well. I just kicked my shoes off and meandered into the kitchen. 

“Tea?” I shouted through to Levi. 

“As long as the cup is clean.” Came the monotone drawl, edged with what I decided was disgust. I scowled and grabbed a mug from the cupboard. 

“I’ll have you know, my home may be untidy, but it is  _ not _ dirty.” I called indignantly. I took a great pride in keeping everything clean. I may neglect to put books back when I’m in the midst of research, but I’m not a slob. 

 

I made the tea the way he liked it and walked it through to him, passing it to him, and sipped on my own. He was scanning the bookshelves when I gasped. 

“Shit! Veronica!” I ran back into the kitchen to fetch a jug of water, leaving Levi confused. 

“Who is Veronica?” 

“This beauty.” I told him as I caressed the leaves of the plant in my window. I have a lot of plants in my apartment. I love nature, and I seem to have an affinity for it. The plants soothe me, and if I could, I’d have cats, dogs, rats, and a whole host of animal companions. But, the life I lead was not animal friendly. It was only plant friendly because I had befriended a local Brownie and gave him milk and cream every day so that he would take care of my plants if I was away from home. “This is Leo, this is Daniel, this is Audrey, this is-” 

“I get it.” Levi interrupted me, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “You’re a crackpot that names her plants.”  I stuck my tongue out at him and continued with watering the plants that were in my living room. “All these books are shit. Where are your proper books?” 

“In my room. I hide the heavy stuff in case I have visitors that aren’t Seers or Hunters.” I shrugged. I was extremely conscious of other people seeing these books.

“Why do you care?” I looked up and Levi’s eyes were burning into mine. 

“Because…” I trailed off, knowing how stupid I was going to sound. I grit my teeth and just said it. “Because I don’t want people treating me like they did my grandmother.” I walked through into my bedroom and Levi followed watching me intently. I pointed to the wardrobe, indicating for Levi to open it, and he just looked at me.  Knew he was waiting for an explanation. 

 

This was our thing. We knew when the other was in need of sharing and we just waited. He was always willing to listen, to offer genuine advice. No matter what crass remark he’d make, or any biting comment to get a grip, I knew he’d never judge me for anything. Just like I’d never judge him. I sighed and sat on the bed. 

“When I was little, my grandmother would tell me so many amazing stories. All about faeries, ghosts, heroes, and magic. I lapped them up every time I saw her. My father had always disapproved, but never stopped me from seeing her. Even though the stories conflicted with his religious beliefs he just made sure to tell me that they were only stories, nothing more. 

 

“When I was around ten, the same year I followed the voice, I had severely overreacted when my dad went to walk through a faery ring.” I laughed at the memory. A small, bitter laugh that had Levi moving closer to my side. “He told me it was just a story, that God had never created the creatures in those stories, that the stories were all creations of the Devil to make us worship false Gods, and commit our souls to hell. I told him that what if God  _ had _ created them, but he’d made them invisible for a reason. My grandmother had seemed so…  _ scared _ , so serious when she stopped me walking through one. I decided then that it wasn’t just a story. Why would you be  _ that  _ scared if it was all made up? My parents stopped me from seeing her soon after.

 

“They blamed her for me going mad. They refused to let her see me when I was going through therapy. I was even committed to a “residential hospital” they called it. I knew it was an asylum. I was thirteen when I stayed there. I was old enough to know where I was. It was horrible. All these kids that would scare me... Kids muttering to themselves, kids eating things they shouldn’t, shouting, screaming, violent outbursts… and there was this one kid blatantly ignoring this person next to him.” I got lost in the memory of that day. Seeing everything as vividly as if I was there again. “I asked him why he was ignoring that boy, and he just looked up at me, eyes wide, and said, “You see him too?” I had gotten in a huge amount of trouble for that. I was told that I was jeopardising his mental health.” I paused for a moment, wiping the tears that had slipped down my face as I was speaking. 

 

I remembered how devastated my grandmother looked when she was turned away. Both from our house and the hospital. One boy - who I’d learned was actually the ghost of a teenager who’d hung himself - told me that they threatened to commit her for all her beliefs. It was then that I’d decided to just ignore everything. I’d slip on a mask and pretend that I was better. By this point they’d tried most medication they could, and I’d overheard them mention surgery. The boy told me that it was a lobotomy and explained that they’d cut open my brain and remove parts of it. I had scowled at him, but kept my mouth shut. I was fifteen when I was released.  

“I went to find her when I was released and my mother had told me that she’d passed away.” I sniffled. “In her will she’d left me all of her belongings, but I wasn’t to get them until I was 21. Including her home. My mother wasn’t happy, and tried to contest the will, but because she wasn’t blood related to her, and my father had passed two years previous, I was her sole heir. My mother gave me this bible that my grandmother insisted I have on her deathbed. The only reason she let me have it is because it was a bible and she told her that she wanted to atone for the things she’d put me through. 

 

“What she didn’t know is that there was a hidden note in the cover. You know, just under the paper stuck to the hard front? I cut that open and this little note said, “Find Levi Ackerman.” So I did.” Levi stiffened. 

“What was her name?” He asked quietly. I looked up at him and his eyes were blazing. I creased my eyebrows, sitting up straight. 

“Nora. Nora (l/n).” 

“It was you.” I waited for Levi to continue but when he didn’t I pressed him. 

“What was me? Did you know my grandmother?” 

“Yes.” His blunt answer took me aback. “She often visited the bar. Said that her old friend used to go there and she worked in the Scouts and she was looking for them. After that Erwin asked me to speak to her.” My eyes were wide, pleading. Levi glanced away from me and a muscle in his jaw jumped. “She told me that her granddaughter was in trouble. That she was seeing things and her parents didn’t believe her. I told her to tell the girl to ignore everything she saw; that she should pretend to get better so she could get out of that place. And then told her to bring her to see us, and that we’d teach her everything we knew.” 

 

I was dumbfounded. Levi knew my grandmother. She’d tried to help me. She’d gone to Levi and asked for their help. She knew that what I saw was real. 

“That’s why she told me to find you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were told to see me by your grandmother? Why didn’t you tell me who she was?” Levi’s eyes were blazing. He was mad. I blinked at him. 

“I didn’t think it mattered. I thought you’d think I was a stupid girl; finding you on the whim of a dying old lady.” Levi prowled closer to me and grabbed my arms and shook me. 

“And you think telling some stranger that you could see a creature in the corner of the room would have made you look any less stupid?” 

 

I remembered that well. It was the first time I’d seen a Brownie. Like the other creatures of the Fae, they were invisible. They could only be seen if they wanted you to see them, or if you were like us. I blurted out a “There’s something creepy in the corner.” when I saw Levi. He’d just dragged me into the back room of the bar and questioned me. I thought he’d call my mother and I’d be put back in the asylum. But he’d told me to stop crying; he told me he believed me and that he could see those things too. 

“I’m sorry! How was I supposed to know that you knew her? I just thought… I don’t know. I was scared! I’d just gotten out of a mad house and I was told that the only person who didn’t think I was mad was dead! I followed her dying wish because I adored that woman. But I was still scared. I still am!” Levi’s eyes softened. 

“What do you mean?” He sat beside me, his face now inches from mine. I swallowed, trying to push the fluttering in my stomach away, tried to not look at his lips. I tried not to imagine the feel of his lips on mine, the feel of his hands on my waist, of his hair between my fingers. I tried not to imagine the feel of his hands travelling down my body… I failed monumentally. 

“I-I’m scared of meeting new people. It’s not safe. I may say something. I may end up back-” I took a breath before finishing, eyes tight shut as I tried to stop the tears, “there.” 

 

Hands. Gentle, callused hands on my face. Holding me. I whimpered quietly at the touch, unaware of how desperate I really was. His thumbs were slowly stroking my cheeks as his fingers cradled my head in his palms. I leaned my face to the right, closer to him, and further into his grip. My lips parted to let in a shuddering breath and I opened my eyes. Levi was watching me intently, his steel grey eyes soft yet determined. His eyes flicked to my mouth and my heart fluttered. His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth. 

“I won’t let you go back there.” His voice was low and gentle, full of promise. “For as long as I am breathing, I will not let those fuckers take you anywhere.” As he spoke his thumb traced my bottom lip and heat pooled at my core. “I won’t let them take you away from me.” His eyes finally, lazily, travelled back to mine. I was barely breathing at this point. 

“Good.” I murmured, the sound throaty and more seductive than I’d intended. 

 

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his and he answered with a fervent kiss, his hands tightening on my head slightly. I cupped his face with my own hands and pulled him closer, eager to block out any possible space between us. His tongue brushed at my lips and I opened my mouth gladly, letting him kiss me as deeply as he wanted. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me onto his lap, my legs on either side of him. His hands travelled from my face to my sides, hands dipping onto my bare skin, and travelling around to my lower back. He pulled me closer to him so our bodies were completely connected. I pulled away from him, breaking the kiss for a moment, and looked into his eyes. He was panting slightly, his pupils dilated, and the desire in his eyes, the hunger, made me shiver. I nuzzled my nose on his cheek gently as he held me tightly. 

 

He kissed my cheek. Then my jaw. Then my neck. I inhaled suddenly in a silent gasp, but Levi felt it and smirked into my neck as he dragged his teeth along my neck gently. Oh so gently. I leaned my head to the side to let him access my neck better. He bit down suddenly at the point where my neck and shoulder meet, and I yelped out and gripped his shoulder, involuntarily bucking against him. He hummed against my neck. 

“It seems you really are a sucker for pain.” His voice was velvet and vibrated against my body. I could feel it in my very core. My eyes fluttered closed and I just made a small noise of agreement mixed with pleasure. His hands were gently tracing patterns into my skin, following the scars that littered my back from various injuries I’d gained on my hunts. The gesture contradicted the passion he kissed with, betraying the feelings he tried to hide. Feelings that were now in his every move and look; his eyes gentle, his movements soft and loving, his grip protective and fierce. 

 

A frantic knocking on the door had me snapping open my eyes and looking towards the front door. Levi made a sound of displeasure, and it sounded a lot like a growl. I glanced at him with a smirk and called out to the intruder. 

“Who is it?” I was reluctant to move, but the voice on the other side of the door made my blood run cold, and had Levi gripping me tight as a stillness settled in my head. Like the calm before a storm. An unsettling calm. 

“Jenine! Open the door, please!” I leapt off of Levi’s lap and sprinted into the living room. I hauled open an old chest - my grandmother’s old chest that sat at the end of her bed - made from stained yew wood and iron. I grabbed a silver blade and walked a few steps towards the door, stopping in the middle of the room. 

“Who is it?” I asked with more force. The voice, the name… no doubt the face would also be the same if I dared look through the peephole. Levi glanced at me and I nodded to the chest, silently telling him to arm himself. He grabbed the twin to my blade and took up a stance beside me. 

“Do you feel it, too?” He asked me quietly, his voice filled with menace. I nodded at him. 

“I told you, it’s Jenine. Open the door!” I tightened my grip on the sword. 

“No. You’re not.” 

 

Just like that, the knocking stopped. A moment passed. Then two. But the feeling, the voice in my head, still remained. Neither me or Levi moved an inch. We were poised to strike whatever came through the door. A scraping sound on the door alerted us to the fact that the thing was still indeed lurking. Nails - or claws - dragging and scraping. Slow and leisurely. Suddenly the door flew off its hinges and straight towards us. Levi dragged me out of its path, both of us falling in a heap on the floor. He covered my head with his arms as we protected ourselves from the debris that was scattered through the room. We both looked up and saw a woman standing there. 

“It’s a shame you didn’t come when I asked. It seems you didn’t really like your little friend.” I scowled at the figure as I stood up. 

“She was my best friend. And you killed her.” I growled. She laughed. 

“She did summon me. Foolish girl.” 

“We were only eight!” The woman frowned at my tone and walked over the threshold. My eyes widened. The wards… how was she able to get through them? 

“Do you really think I care how old you were? You were fools. You disturbed my slumber; you unleashed me.” A wicked smile. “I must thank you for that, at least. No one likes to be tied up.” 

“Speak for yourself.” I said wryly. She just blinked at me and then smiled. 

“Well, if you’re so eager to be bound, let me give you what you want.”

“If anyone is going to be tying her up, it’s me.” Levi spoke at last. His voice its usual monotone, eyes pinned to the woman. She glanced at him as if he was a fly buzzing around her head. 

“What do you want?” I asked bitterly. Her eyes flicked to me and I had never felt so vulnerable. Like a field mouse being watched by a hawk. 

“I want to make you understand the penalty for waking me. She woke me, she paid. I am now here, and I intend on enjoying my stay here. But I will not endure your hunting anymore.” Levi’s eyes flicked to me, his jaw clenching. “It was amusing at first; the way you keep ahold of the scrap of fabric she was wearing. But now it’s becoming tiresome. You will stop, or I will not continue being lenient.” Her eyes flicked over to Levi. “That goes for all of you.” 

 

She suddenly flew through the living room, nothing but a mass of black smoke. She came right for us and before we had the chance to call to each other Levi and I sprang away from each other, letting her fly between us and out the window. The windows shattered and Veronica fell from the window, smashing in the path below. Levi and I stood there for a moment in silence processing everything that had just happened. I turned to look at Levi. 

“Bitch killed Veronica.” I said tightly, trying to ease the tension. Levi didn’t smile, he only pinned me with a cool stare, and I knew that I was in for some deep shit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go. Let me know what you thought of that chapter. 
> 
> I have to say, I've been obsessed with Alan Walker's songs "Alone", "Faded", "Sing Me To Sleep", and "Tired". I'm sat here in an Iron Maiden Tee, listening to these somewhat House/Rave songs, and writing fan fiction. If that isn't a blur of aesthetics, I don't know what is. I don't even know what I am anymore. Besides hilarious, and tasteful... :P 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, and Request <3


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter three. I got a little bit too into this chapter towards the end there... xD
> 
> I hope you lovelies enjoy it. <3

Erwin, Hange, Mike, Levi, and I were all in the ruined living room of my apartment. I was perched on the wingback seat by my bookshelves in my own little makeshift reading nook, Hange had wondered into my room to look at my collection of occult books I’d inherited from my grandmother, Mike was, quite literally, sniffing around the front door (which was now lying in my living room), and Erwin was sat on the couch. Levi was standing by the kitchen door, arms crossed, his face like thunder. I’d avoided eye contact with him since the woman left.

 

Woman. Well, it was wearing the face of a woman, but it had been using the name and voice of Janine...

“What do you think, Mike?” I asked tentatively, breaking the awkward silence that had settled. Everyone had noticed Levi glaring at me.

“It smells wrong. Old. Powerful.” He looked up at me, levelling a serious look at me. “What did you summon?” I swallowed.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you have the book? Perhaps we can take a look at the summoning spell.” Erwin sat on the couch, his calm demeanour made me relax a little bit.

“I do. But…” I looked at Erwin and laughed nervously. “I don’t know which page it was she read from.”

“Tch.” I glanced at Levi and raised an eyebrow. “Go and get it.” I scowled at him but obliged, happy to get away from that glare.

 

Hange grinned at me, her eyes manic, and I could tell she was enjoying the chance to rifle through my collection. She was sat in the middle of a mass of books that she’d dragged from the wardrobe, and multiple books were lying open. I raised my eyebrows as her and shook my head.

“Enjoying yourself there?”

“Your books are amazing! I may need to borrow a few of these sometime...” I just nodded at her as I rifled through them looking for the tome that I’d kept away from for seventeen years. And it wasn’t just because of what happened with Janine, but because of the books itself. I searched through the stacks, eventually finding it at the very back. I hesitated before gritting my teeth and just pulling it out, a few books toppling down, making me flinch and quickly step out of the way.

“What… is that?” Hange stood up suddenly as she saw it. I just looked up at her solemnly. Wordlessly, I left the room and she followed me out into the living room where I dropped the leather bound tome on top of the door - which had landed on my coffee table. Everyone in the room stood up and stared from the book to me. I looked down at my feet as if I was a naughty schoolgirl.

“Y/N…” I glanced at Erwin and saw the larger man was staring at the book as if it was a bomb. Mike had crossed over to be by his side, the pair standing shoulder to shoulder, hands brushing one another’s.

“What _is_ it?” Hange repeated and I looked at her.

“My grandmother had it. She found it at bookstore somewhere - one of those small secondhand ones that specialise in first editions and rare books.” Hange had crept closer to the book but didn’t dare touch it.

“How did you end up with it at eight?” Levi’s voice was tight and I turned my head to him but didn’t look at him. My voice was quiet, ashamed.

“I stole it.” Hange just put an arm around me.

“Why?” I looked at her, a weak smile on my face.

“It was old and creepy.” I shrugged. “I was a kid. I’d been told they were just stories, and I thought it would be a good idea to read ghost stories and have this book around for a thrill. It was old, strange… and it felt creepy.”

“It felt wrong to you, yet you still used it?” Levi growled. I whirled on him, stepping out of Hange’s grip.

“Hey! I was a little kid! I wasn’t raised like you lot. I didn’t have someone in my life that could tell me that what I was feeling was true; that could explain it all to me. Or have you forgotten that I was put away when I was thirteen?” My voice had become cold and hard. I could see the others recoil. “I had to survive on my own for fifteen years, seeing things that people told me were all in my mind, hearing things that weren’t there… I had to put up with being locked away like some nut case!” I was breathing raggedly and my eyes were burning.

“Y/N… what do you mean?” Mike asked, his voice soft. I looked at him blinking.

 

I’d forgotten that they didn’t know; I’d made Levi promise not to tell anyone about my time in the asylum. As far as they knew, I’d been put on medication and that was it. I opened my mouth to explain but all that escaped was a whimper. It took me by surprise, and I covered my mouth and stepped away from the others, and straight into Levi. Before I could escape him, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me into his chest and hugged me.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered into my hair. His grip was tight and possessive. “I was just mad that you didn’t tell us about this.”

“We’re a team, Y/N.” Erwin agreed as he came closer to us and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“A pretty kickass team.” Hange.

“We have your back.” Mike.

 

Just like that, I broke. I cried into Levi’s shoulder as he held me up.

“I’m sorry. I just- I wanted to- It was my problem. It was all my fault and I had to fix it myself.” I sobbed. I felt a hand stroke the back of my head, and Levi placed his on either side of my face and made me look at him.

“Idiot. Even if you made a mistake, you tell us and we help you. Erwin was wrong.” His eyes pinned me with a soft but determined look. “We’re not a team. We’re a family.”

“I stand corrected.” Erwin’s deep voice conceded. Levi’s eyes darted to the figure behind me that was stroking my head.

“You can stop petting her now, Shitty-Glasses.” The hand left my head and I chuckled, sniffing meekly.

“Thank you, Levi.” He just grunted in reply and I kissed his cheek.

“Tch. You missed.” I smiled at him and he tugged me closer and placed a kiss to my lips. I braced my hands on his chest and kissed back eagerly, happy that this event hadn’t erased the events from earlier. My hands slid up his chest, over his shoulders, and up his neck to cup his jaw line. I pulled away from him and rested my forehead on his, nuzzling his nose slightly. Someone cleared their throat and I just smiled as Levi clicked his tongue, pulling away from him, albeit very reluctantly.

“We should take the book with us. We can have a look at it in more detail. Perhaps Hange could find the passage.” Hange nodded emphatically and I just shook my head.

“Open it, first.” My voice was low, almost shy.

 

Everyone looked at me and I just gestured to the book with my head. Everyone glanced around the room at the others before Erwin stepped forward and opened it at a random page.

“Huh.” Erwin mused as he knelt by the ancient book.

“That… may be problematic.” Hange commented soberly, any excitement from being put on the case withered. I just closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“I- what language is that?” Levi was frowning down at the book and I shrugged.

“Latin, maybe? I tried to look up some phrases years ago but I couldn’t find any correlation. Although, I haven’t wanted to touch the book for seventeen years, so maybe…”

“It’s not Latin.” Erwin told me. I just nodded. _Of course not, I’m not that lucky._

“Maybe Greek?” Erwin shook his head.

“It’s not the Greek alphabet.”

“I’ll take it to Petra next time I see her.” Hange told us happily, seemingly bounced back from her momentary deflation. “Maybe she’ll know.” I hummed in response to her. Petra was a good call.

“Maybe… maybe we could get Armin in on it, too. He’s got the brain of a genius.”

“Arlert? He’d shit himself as soon as he saw the damn thing. Or as soon as he found out what Petra was.” I looked at Levi.

“Give the kid a break. Petra’s a white witch. I’m sure he won’t care.” I scolded. Levi’s gaze still remained as impassive as ever. I rolled my eyes and looked at Erwin.

“How about you, Eyebrows? Are you going to go with them?” I grinned at him and he shrugged.

“I don’t know…” He was reluctant.

 

I knew how he felt about being away from the compound. He felt like he had to be with the kids; holding down the fort and protecting everyone. He carried a large burden that he had forced upon himself. My heart twinged in pain for the man. He was a kind man and hated letting us go off to fight things. I think if he could, he’d do it all alone. He blamed himself for each and every death that happened within the Scouts.

“We need all of our best brains on this, Erwin.” I paused and gave him a cheeky grin. “Commander.” It had been my nickname for him since I met him ten years ago. He was the leader, the one we all turned to, looked up to. He was our beloved Commander. He smiled at me warmly and Mike reached a hand to the shorter man’s face.

“She’s right.” Ewin looked at his lover and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll take a look." He agreed, although I could see the reluctance in his eyes. "We’ll crack this thing even if it takes us weeks.”

“More like months.” Hange told us. Levi looked at her pointedly.

“I don’t think that’s helping, shithead.”

“Let’s just take the damn book to HQ, already.” I grumbled and grabbed the book. I stopped suddenly and Hange collided with me.

“What the fuck!”

“I nearly forgot!” I turned around and smiled at Hange sheepishly. “Sorry.” I thrust the book in her hands and ran into the kitchen and ransacked the fridge. “Ah! Great! The good stuff!” I pulled out the cream and grabbed a bowl, hurrying back to the living room. “Arelith! I’m leaving this for you. Can you fix the door and the windows for me? I’ll stop by the shop and grab some more cream for you, and the good milk.” I called out to the Brownie that I’d befriended.

“Is… Is she there?” Hange whispered. I shrugged at her.

“I’m going to assume she heard.”

 

Before I walked out of the house I drew the rune on the floor by the doorway - the same one I drew at the Gully to hide it from view. Hopefully no one would try to knock on my door before Arelith had a chance to fix it. I saw the threads of the glamour twinkle as it wove its way up the length of the doorway, stretching from frame to frame. I smiled happily and left, hurrying to my car. Mike and Erwin took their own car back, and Hange decided she’d jump into the car with me and Levi so she could quiz me about my books.

 

***

 

I gasped for breath, legs aching, sweat pouring from my head and back, and arms pumping quickly. I could hear the sounds of my feet pounding as I sprinted around the track. Levi stood in the middle, arms crossed, face bored as always. He followed me around the track, turning in a slow circle as he watched me. It was 6:15 in the morning and I had been forced to run for an hour already after being dragged out of bed and marched to the track by the tiny tyrant.

“You’re smaller than me, brat.” He informed me when I called him it to his face. I just flipped him off and stamped off.

 

It seems he didn’t appreciate the name calling since he’s been forcing me to do laps for fifteen minutes straight. If I slow down even slightly he just calmly tells me to speed up and then threatens to make me do another twenty laps before I can stop. It works, though, since I knew he would force me to do the laps. The menace in his eyes and voice was enough to keep me running, the very thought of what is going on in that sadistic mind makes me both uneasy and… excited. My thoughts drifted to the methods he’d employ to force me into the laps, and I couldn’t conjure any ways that _weren’t_ sexual.

 

It’s a good job I was running because that way he couldn’t see the blush that crept up my face because of those thoughts. I could feel my second wind kick in as Levi announced that I could finish up after five more laps, provided I hurry up. I ran harder, pushing myself to my limit and then some, and I completed the laps. I collapsed on the ground, lying on my back as I tried to concentrate on my breathing. Levi dropped a water bottle on my stomach and I didn’t so much as move.

“You did good, brat.” That made me open my eyes and lift my head. A compliment? “Don’t get excited. You still need a lot of work. But for a first lesson, you were okay.” I just smirked at him and dropped my head back on the ground not caring how hard it landed. Levi clicked his tongue and dropped to his knees, straddling me, and placed his hands beside my shoulders. “Be careful. You can’t afford to lose any more brain cells.” I just glared at him unable to do anything else as I caught my breath. Levi just watched me carefully and I quirked an eyebrow. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Shut up.”

 

Levi lent down and kissed me, his mouth hungrily devouring mine. I mewled into the kiss and arched my back into him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Levi nipped at my bottom lip, biting just hard enough to elicit a shuddering gasp each time. His tongue pushed into my mouth and I growled at him, a throaty sound that made him smirk. Our tongues wrestled for a bit before I gave in and let him have his way. If I hadn’t just ran laps I’d have put up more of a fight. Levi pulled away, just out of my reach, and looked at me. His eyes surveyed me eagerly, flicking from my eyes to my lips and back.

 

Worried that he was going to walk off, I used the last of my energy to roll him over and pin him under my body. Now it was me straddling him and I grabbed his shirt and pulled him up and met him with a kiss; a desperate and passionate kiss. Levi’s arms wrapped around my lower back and pulled me closer to him. I clutched his face with my hands and deepened the kiss, our tongues dancing together. My body grew hotter and I couldn’t control the way my hips ground down on him, following the natural urge of my body, teasing a growl from him. My eyebrow quirked and I ground against him again, this time deliberately, and his hands clutched me harder, another animal sound rumbling from his chest. I pulled away from him and murmured, “I like it when you make those sounds for me.” Levi dipped his head down and bit on the join between my neck and shoulder and I felt the pain spread through each one of the nerves in the area. I gasped in pain and pleasure and Levi dragged his head back up to look at me.

“And I like it when you make those noises.”

 

My breath trembled as I gazed into his eyes. His grey eyes didn’t leave mine. His usual bored expression was replaced with one I’d never seen on his face before. It was intense, but not his usual intensity. This was the intensity of someone that was in love; a person who was completely consumed and was giving into their animalistic desires. He usually looked like he could take you apart with a decent punch, but this time… this time he looked like he could take me apart in a completely different way. I felt heat pool inside me at the weight of the look he was giving me, my core throbbing with a desperation; a need for him. I reached up and traced his face gently with my fingers, ignoring the desire my body had for him. For the moment, at least.  

“What are you doing, brat?” He asked me, voice husky and low so that only I could hear. Not that there was anyone around that could hear us anyway.

“I’ve never seen you look like this before. You usually wear a mask.” Levi leaned in and kissed me. This time it was a gentle, loving kiss. His lips ghosted over mine and my eyes fluttered closed as my stomach flipped at the tenderness.

“That’s because I don’t need one with you.” He told me when he pulled back.

 

I opened my eyes to look at him, and the total honesty in his eyes made me lose my control. I kissed him once more, this time tugging on the waistband of his jeans.

“I need you. Right now.” I told him, cursing myself inwardly at the whine in my voice that made me sound so desperate. Levi just flipped us over so that he was over me again, pressing a kiss to my lips.

“I _do_ need to punish you for calling me a ‘Tiny Tyrant’.” He told me…

 

And then got up and walked off.

 

“ _Levi_!” I called, staring after him. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at me, not slowing his pace as he disappeared through the door. “Bastard.” I groaned to myself as I let my head drop to the ground once more, a small smile on my lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things got a little heated there... But don't worry, I intend on writing more scenes of this ilk in the future because this was far too much fun. 
> 
> I'm having fun with this, although I think Levi is a little OOC in it... I'm not sure, but hopefully I can correct that when I eventually edit it. Oh well. It is what it is. 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, and Request.


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another fun chapter to write. I love writing Levi and his interactions with Reader-chan and Hange. Even if no one else finds this funny, I'm having a whale of a time and I at least think I'm funny!! x'D 
> 
> I hope you guys like this, and I hope Reader-chan seems badass enough for you, my lovelies. Enjoy <3

The bar was never packed, but it had a steady flow of people, and the regular suspects would come for a drink and to seek help with various jobs from other Hunters or Seers. Christa was working today so I’d decided to hang out in the bar. I’d call this bar a dive bar because it saw its fair share of thugs who thought they could do what they wanted, hit on whoever they wanted to, and generally be a menace. However, they usually got a short sharp shock and were tossed out. We’ve had a few groups coming by to try to “set us straight”. They all left limping and bleeding. 

 

Some of the Hunters try to hit on Christa, and she just smiles politely at them as Ymir glares at them from her seat at the bar, sometimes even lurking behind them and scaring the absolute shit out of them (when she does that I like to bet on how long it'll be before they notice she's standing behind them. I've made a fair bit of money this way...). I walked over to the sound system and connected my phone to it as I played a few songs that I liked. As the guitar sounded and the rich tones of the country voice sounded I saw a few people pull a face at the music as I turned it up louder. I hopped up on the counter of the bar and grabbed a bottle and a glass and helped myself to a drink of whiskey. 

“Do you think you should be sat up there wearing that?” A man asked me. I had no idea who he was so I just shot him my brightest smile with a shrug. It wasn’t as if I was wearing anything revealing; I was wearing a pair of ripped skinny jeans that hugged me closely but had a nice stretch to them, a short camisole that showed my stomach (and the toned abs underneath), and a pair of tatty old combat boots. It wasn’t revealing in the least so I just knocked back my drink and poured another. 

“You may want to go easy there, Y/N.” Christa commented. I shrugged at her. 

“Today’s been a bit… difficult.” I told her. 

 

I thought back to the track this morning, feeling the ghost of Levi’s hands on me. He’d gone on with his day like normal, not even seemingly acknowledging what had happened between us, and I was beyond frustrated with the man. The man who commented on my choice of clothing stood up and leaned on the bar next to me. 

“I can help you.” He purred to me. I could smell his cologne, sharp and sickly sweet, and I resisted the urge to grimace. It wasn’t cigarettes and tea, or the clean smell of soap Levi had after he had showered. It was foreign; wrong. I looked at the man, my eyes slowly travelling up and down his body. He was wearing jeans - baggy and barely sitting on his hips - and a top with some kind of slogan on it, his hair had patterns cut into it, and the way he stood told me everything I needed to know. He was one of the thugs that thought he’d come to a dive bar, try to pull, maybe start a fight, and leave the newest bad boy of the area. I snorted at him and shook my head. 

“No thanks, chief.” 

“Aw, c’mon, love.” I glared at him. 

“I’m not your love.” 

“You will be.” I laughed heartily at that and threw back my drink. He had a confident smirk on his face, like he thought I was just playing hard to get. The way his hand brushed my thigh clumsily, the way he tried - and failed - to make his voice husky and seductive, the way he leaned into me was so amateurish that I laughed again. The giggles rippled out of me and I doubled over. I patted his hand and slid off the bar. 

“Nice try, buddy.” I turned to Christa, heaving the bottle over my head. “I’m taking this.” 

 

As I walked off a hand grabbed my wrist. I stopped and looked behind me and the man. He was a good deal taller than me - shit, even  _ Levi _ was taller than me - and had a face like thunder. 

“Didn’t anyone tell you it was rude to walk away when someone is talking to you?” 

“Didn’t anyone tell you not to touch a woman without her permission?” My eyebrows raised as I spoke, and I was surprised by how calm I was. I was more amused by him than indignant or insulted. He tugged me closer but I grounded my feet in the ground and didn’t budge. A snigger left me at the thought of how he had tried the same thing that Levi skillfully did. “You know, I’m getting tired. And I think it’s time for you to leave, now. Go back to your buddies and leave me alone.” I turned to leave but his grip was surprisingly strong for someone who couldn’t pull me into him. I paused, closing my eyes for a moment as I sighed. “You really should let go now.” I warned him. 

“C’mon, babe, let me show you a good time.” He drawled. I looked at him, rapidly becoming put out. He was starting to get on my nerves. Why was it that men couldn’t just  _ listen _ to what a woman was saying?

“I doubt you of all people could show me a good time. You can’t even dress properly.” I stalked off to the back of the bar hoping to get away from him, but he followed, and this time he grabbed me roughly, growling at me. 

“Listen bitch, you’ll show me some respect or I’ll teach it to you.” I stopped stock still, back still facing my would-be lover, the room growing quieter. 

“I’ll give you one last chance. Touch me again… and you  _ will  _ regret it.” 

 

My voice was low and dangerous. The sounds of the bar had grown to a faint murmur as the patrons all looked at us. I could see his reflection in the cabinet across from me and he glanced around the room and I could see him visibly inflating. His ego clearly assumed everyone was thinking  _ he  _ was the one to be wary of. But what he didn’t know is that he was just a Regular, and not even a Hunter. He didn’t know who these people were; didn’t know the kinds of things we saw daily. He didn’t know the kinds of things a tiny woman like me could do; _had_ done. People were keeping out of it, not because he was intimidating, but because they didn’t need to step in to protect me. I wasn’t a damsel to rescue. I was the _dragon_. I snapped my hand away from him and started to walk off again. I saw his face twist in anger as he reached for me, and so I acted. 

 

I lifted my right arm as I swung around and smashed the thick glass bottle over his head, hitting him in the temple, whiskey and glass raining down on all the people at the tables near us. He went down.  _ Hard. _ The other three guys at his table all stood and rushed to his side. Blood had covered the side of his head and I simply looked down at him and his gang, breathing slightly harder than before. One of his friends lunged for me and he just clipped me on the cheek as I leaned away. I swept his arm away from me and used his momentum to push him away from me. He landed on a table in front of me. The group at the table just groaned and cried about their drinks, leaning back in their seats to avoid the human projectile. 

 

Someone grabbed me from behind and I heard a  _ click  _ sound. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard Christa shout at me, warning me that the bastard had a knife. I kicked my legs up, trying to unbalance the brute that had my arms locked behind me.  _ He’s got a good grip _ , I thought grimly. I stamped down on his foot and twisted, breaking free of his grip as the other guy rushed me, clipping my side with the knife as I straightened. I felt a sharp pain and touched the area tentatively as I turned around to look at my assailants. My hand was scarlet and I grit my teeth. I looked at the two men who were preparing to run at me and thought about my next move. The guy with the knife was the most dangerous, so I’d have to concentrate on him. I could take a few punches, but a few well placed stab wounds would bring me down badly. I suddenly remembered the guy who I’d helped into the table - the one that was now behind me - and felt my adrenaline pulse through me.  _ Shit _ . 

 

I spun around as I saw a fist coming at my face. Gasping, I flinched as I reached out blindly to defend myself, cursing the damn reflex as I did. His fist connected with my jaw and I yelped in pain, clawing my fingers to try to gouge whatever I could. I made contact with him and dug my nails into the flesh as hard as I could and I dragged my hand downwards hard. Hands gripped my hair and dragged me backwards. My anger flared up and I screeched, seeing a few people flinching on instinct. I sounded like a Banshee that was ready to attack. I jabbed my elbow into his gut as I grabbed his wrist and spun around to face him. His arm twisted and I yanked hard. He cried out and I could feel the joint straining under the skin. I kicked him in the stomach and flung him into the other two and lunged towards one of the tables and grabbed a glass. As I turned I saw one of them running at me, the other one gripping his wrist, and the other one poised to attack. With his knife. 

 

 

Snarling like a feral animal I swung the glass into his head and it broke. The glass ripped through my hand as well as his head. I kicked him in the chest as he doubled over clutching his head and he fell into one of the tables. The table broke under his weight - and the momentum with which he landed on the wooden surface - and he, mercifully, stayed down as he writhed around. I grabbed one of the metal bars that had acted as a table leg and wielded it like a sword. Knife guy seemed to balk at the sight of two of his friends on the ground, and my injured hand that was now gripping a metal bar. I didn’t feel it yet, but I knew that once this adrenaline wore off I’d be unable to use it for a while. I scowled at the bastard on the floor, blaming him entirely for the injury to my dominant hand. I kicked him once for spite and that seemed to make his friend - the guy I’d scratched on the face - come back to reality. He came at me, once again, and I just swung. There was no technique, just pure anger and brute force. I hit him in the gut and he doubled over. As I brought down the bar on his back, I saw Knife Guy run at me. I darted back as he swung at me, avoiding the knife successfully this time, and quickly changed the bar from my right hand - the injured one - to my left. I grabbed the blade of the knife and grit my teeth as it bit into my flesh, and smashed the bar into his wrist making him let go of the knife. I dropped the bar and wielded the knife in my left hand and looked at the guy who was left. 

 

Glass smashed over his head and he collapsed. Christa was behind him, Ymir close behind ready to protect her, holding the remains of a vodka bottle. I panted, looking at her, and then looking around the room at the rest of the people in the bar. I looked at Christa pointedly. 

“About damn time I had help.” I looked around the room at the rest of them. “Really? No one thought to give a girl a hand?” Annoyance was clear in my tone. 

“Aw, c’mon, Y/N! We all knew you could handle yourself.” A voice called out. I looked over and saw a Hunter I knew as Oliver looking at me, a smirk of approval on his lips. I scowled at him and threw the knife on the floor as I stalked over to the bar and grabbed a cloth and a bottle of vodka. I hissed as I poured the vodka on the open wounds on my hand, vaguely hoping I wouldn’t need stitches as I wrapped the cloth over my hand, took a swig of the spirit and stalked towards the exit. 

 

The door swung open and Levi stood there blocking my path. He blinked at the men strewn on the ground, looked at me, and his eyes flickered over my face, my hand, and my side. 

“What the fuck happened?” His voice held a note of menace and the room seemed to grow deathly silent, the atmosphere thickening into a palpable, almost corporeal tension. 

“I was in a bad mood.” I shrugged at him and breezed past him. 

 

I sighed at the cool breeze outside, not realising how warm I’d gotten from the fight. I groaned as I felt a pulse of pain rip through my side, remembering the wound. I looked down and saw that my cami had a scarlet slash through the right side of it and I cursed colourfully. “I liked this top, too.” Levi clicked his tongue. 

“That’s the least of your problems, brat.” I glared at him for a second before fussing over my top. 

“This was my grandmothers. I altered it to fit, but still. Now it’s ruined.” I moaned glumly. “Bastards.” I yelled back towards the bar. Levi grunted, amusement glinting in his eyes. I walked off down the street trying not to pull at the wound on my side as I wrapped my left arm around myself to keep pressure on the wound. “Is Hange back yet?” 

“No.” 

“Fuck.” I looked at my hand and unwrapped it, my hand trembling at the pain that was starting to register. 

“What the fuck happened?” Levi growled as he grabbed my hand gently, examining the glass embedded in the wounds. There was a gash through the glass wounds where I’d gripped the blade of the knife and it looked pretty deep. My heart sunk as I realised the chances of getting away without stitches was fading drastically. 

“There were these guys. One was hitting on me and I told him no, he kept trying, so I hit him over the head with a whiskey bottle.” I shrugged and Levi just watched me quietly, his eyes pinned to mine. “And then the other three attacked me.” Levi’s grip tightened as a low growling sound reverberated through him. I hissed and tried to pull my hand away. 

“Ow. Watch it will you, short arse.” 

“Sorry.” Levi loosened his grip but didn’t release me. He dipped his head and kissed my wrist. I smiled at him, and when his eyes met mine I blushed causing him to smirk. “Let’s get back to HQ. I can take the glass out and stitch your side up.” I nodded at him and we walked back to the compound together. 

“It’s a good job those tables are shit. Otherwise I’d have been screwed.” I commented, breaking the silence that had settled. 

“It would be too expensive to get good furniture every time some idiot trashes the place.” 

“Hey! I had a good reason!” I bristled at his choice of words. He laughed at me, the sound foreign but not unpleasant. I stopped dead in my tracks and Levi looked at me, an eyebrow cocked in question. “You can laugh!” I widened my eyes. “Let me record the sound!” 

“Tch. Hurry up, idiot. Unless you  _ want _ that to get infected.” I laughed at him and continued for a few steps before stopping again. 

“Fuck!” 

“What now?” Irritation flickered on his face as he stared at me. 

“I forgot my phone.” I turned to go back to the bar but Levi gripped my wrist and stopped me. 

“Get it later.”

“But my tunes!” I whined. He clicked his tongue and tried to pull me away. “Levi! No, my tunes!” I wailed. He stopped suddenly and closed his eyes. 

“If I go back and get it for you, will you wait here?” I nodded up at him, a bright smile on my face and he just walked off. 

“Levi?”

“What?” Levi growled. 

“You better go faster. I’m still losing blood you know.” 

“Do you want your fucking phone or not?” The look in his eyes had me reigning in my snigger. 

“No, I’m sorry. Go at your own pace.” 

 

***

 

“OW!” 

“Will you shut the fuck up?” 

“Well it fucking hurts!”

“It’s your own damn fault for grabbing the blade in the first place.” Levi snapped. “Who the fuck even does that?” 

“I the fuck do!” I shouted. 

“Well then you’re a moron.”

“And you’re mean.” I pouted at him, furrowing my brows like a child. 

“Really?” He paused and levelled a glare at me. “I’m sat here cleaning your shitty wounds and you call me mean?” 

“Well I don’t remember asking for your help! And I definitely didn’t ask for the snark.” I glared right back at him. He just dropped everything and sat back. 

“Fine. Do it yourself.” 

“Fine.”

“Fine.” 

“ _ Fine _ !” 

 

I snatched up the alcohol and the pads he was cleaning my hand with and started to dab at my hand quickly before I grabbed the tweezers and tried to remove the piece of glass from my hand. It hurt like hell. And it was fiddly. I whined like a child. “Levi!” I looked up and saw that he’d been watching me, arms folded over his chest, amusement in his eyes. 

“Oh, now you want my help?” I pouted at him. 

“Please? I don’t want to die of blood poisoning!” I fussed as I thrust my hand in his face. 

“Please. You won’t die. Not unless you start behaving like a grown ass adult, anyway.” I beamed at him as he picked up the tweezers and went back to work. 

 

I watched him as he stooped over my hand, eyebrows creased ever so slightly in concentration, and I smiled fondly. I felt a sharp sting and flinched. Levi paused, the hand that was holding mine tightened slightly and his thumb gently stroked the side of my hand. He pulled out another shard of glass and then frowned. 

“What?” 

“There’s a piece that’s in really deep.” He looked up at me and said flatly, “This is going to hurt. A lot.” I grit my teeth.

“Just do it.” He dug around, pausing when I hissed or flinched, and his frown only intensified. 

“How fucking hard did you hit him?” He muttered. I huffed a breath that may have been a laugh. 

“Well, I did force the tumbler into his skull pretty hard. He went straight down after that.” Levi glanced at me. 

“So much for not fighting dirty.” He muttered with a smirk. “You’re learning.” I just scowled at him as he continued fishing around in my hand. 

“There were three of them, and no one else was helping me.” I huffed. “You fight to win, remember.” He just nodded appraisingly. 

 

It took about five minutes for him to finally get the piece out of my hand. Tears were silently falling down my cheeks; not from crying, just because the pain was making my eyes water. 

“I think that’s all of it.” He muttered as he cleaned my hand one last time, placing a fresh cotton pad on my palm and then wrapping it with bandages making sure it was covered thoroughly and securely. 

“Done.” He didn’t let go of my hand. He just watched me as I smiled at him. He wiped a stray tear with his free hand and I nuzzled my face into his hand.

“Thank you.” My voice was low. He nodded at me, his thumb brushing small, soothing circles into my hand. I leaned forward and gripped his shirt to yank him forward into a kiss. It was short, but it still made my heart flutter, that familiar heat flooding my body. 

 

 

The doors burst open and Hange came running in. Levi and I looked up at the crazed woman and we didn’t bother moving from our position, my hand gripping his shirt, our faces close to one another. 

“Are you okay? Christa told us that you were in a fight!” Hange grabbed my hand from Levi and I yelped in pain. 

“Careful, Shithead.” Levi growled at her, shoving her hand away from me. 

“You did a good job, Levi.” Levi’s face remained impassive. 

“I’ve had to clean and wrap plenty of injuries worse than these.” He gestured to my side where he’d sown the gash and stuck a bandage over it and then bound it. 

“What, exactly, was the cause of the fight?” Erwin asked as he strode across the hall to us. “Christa didn’t see how it started since she was in the back.”

“Some guy got too handsy.” I shrugged. 

“Yeah, so you lugged him over the head with a whiskey bottle.” Levi quipped. I frowned at him and Hange let out a low whistle. 

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” 

“You’re getting on  _ my _ bad side, Shitty Glasses. Get out.” I shook my head at Levi and looked at Hange. 

“How did it go?”

“We’ve left the book with Petra and she said she’d take a look tonight. We’re going back tomorrow to continue the brainstorming.” I nodded. 

“Okay, well, night.” I didn’t move. Neither did Levi. We just looked at Hange and Erwin laughed. 

“Come on, Hange. We should get our rest if we want to get a full days work done tomorrow.” He steered Hange out of the room, leaving only me and Levi. I looked back at him and smiled gently. 

“So. Where were we?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... How'd I do? Did ya laugh? I know I did, but that's not what's important here. Let me know what you guys thought, and if there's anything I can do to make you enjoy yourselves more. 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, Request <3


	6. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter. I'm not too fond of this one in all honesty... I think it's a bit rubbish, but I'll let you guys be the judge. Hopefully it's not too contrived and I managed to get the appropriate emotion in to a certain scene. So, enjoy, my nerds.

“Why do I have to go?” Sleep was still thick in my voice as I wiped lazily at my eyes.

“Because I’m not in the mood to put up with Hange first thing in the morning alone.” I glanced at Levi and smirked.

“But you can cope with me?” Levi didn’t so much as look away from the road as he jabbed me in the side. I yelped and jumped into the car door to get away from him.

“Yes.” I scowled at him and looked back at the road.

“Jerk.”

 

Levi had unceremoniously woken me up this morning and threw some clothes at me, grunting that we were leaving in five minutes. I rushed to get dressed, trying not to pull the stitches in my side, and found Levi at my car waiting for me.

“We’re not taking mine. You’ll spill your coffee.”

“What coffee?” He handed me a thermis that was hot, and filled with the life blood of the gods themselves. I squealed and kissed Levi before throwing my keys to him and jumping in the passenger side. For some reason Levi had decided to go to Petra’s store with the others, and so had dragged me along. Not that I minded. I liked Petra and I hadn’t visited her in a while.

“Why are you even going, anyway?” The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, but I’ve never been good with silence unless my life depended on it (like when I’m hunting a Kelpie or an Aswang), and even then my silence is unreliable.

“Because I want to.” My eyebrows shot up and he glanced at me. “What?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t think this was your kind of thing.”

“What wasn’t my kind of thing? This is my job.”

“Well, yeah, but heavy research?”

“What do you think I do in my office?”

“I dunno. Brood? Clean? Think up shit jokes?” I shrugged at him and he snorted.

“Well, you’re an idiot.”

“I’m _your_ idiot, though.” I batted my eyelashes at him.

“Remind me again why I fell for you.” He said calmly and I froze. After a short silence I spoke.

“What?” My voice was quiet. Levi just glanced away from the road, his face giving nothing away.

“I said-”

“No, I know what you said. I just- you fell for me?” He just nodded at me as he looked back at the road.

 

I was gobsmacked. Levi _loved_ me? Me. The girl who had a hopeless crush on him as a teenager, and who had fallen hard for the short, ill-tempered Seer as a grown woman? I was the one that had managed to capture his heart? A snarky, childish, broken nuisance had managed to get under his skin. Wonders never cease. I opened my mouth to speak but Levi beat me to it.

“We’re here.” I just watched him, eyes still wide like a deer caught in headlights, mouth flapping like a Cod. Levi just looked at me and raised his eyebrows in question before grabbing my chin between his thumb and forefinger and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Later.” He murmured and then jumped out of the car. I traced my lips with my fingers as if I could still feel his lips on mine.

“Yeah, later.”

 

Petra’s store was a gorgeous place. As soon as you walk in, the little bell chimes, and the smell of sage hits you square in the face. The old wooden floorboards creaked under foot, and there was an overpowering feeling of calm and tranquillity that made you feel at home (which was because of the spell Petra had placed over the store to put customers at ease). The shelves on the left wall were dedicated to gemstones - tumbled and raw - and crystals, with a bookshelf in the corner by the counter that held books about chakras, tarot, palmistry, clairvoyance, holistic treatments, and any other things that the general public would be interested in. On the right hand wall were the dried herbs, candles, and some items used for scrying and divination. The shelves in the middle of the store floor were filled with miscellaneous items that a budding witch, or practising Wicca would find handy. But it was the counter at the front of the store that was my favourite. It held the pendulums, the Athames, and jewellery that was all handcrafted. All the pieces were so beautiful and I’d spent more than half my lifetime earnings on the jewellery here. But for people like us - Seers, Hunters, and other witches - the real store was downstairs.

 

I waved to the woman that worked with Petra as Levi and I walked through to the back through the door on the right; the door on the left led to the reading room. Straight down the back was a doorway that led to Petra’s greenhouse. It was a double story construction that had a pond in the middle, and it was filled to bursting with plants and herbs. Most of them were for cultivating and using in spells, or treatments, but some were simply there because Petra liked them. Like the sunflowers and the tiny potted cactus.

 

There was a stairway that lead to the basement and a stairway that led up to Petra’s home. We walked down to the basement in silence and my mind was still reeling from Levi’s confession in the car. I wondered how Levi was feeling about this. Surely he’d be nervous? I glanced sidelong at him and saw that he looked much the same as usual: disinterested. I frowned and concentrated on walking down the stairs as carefully as I could.

 

The basement was bright and airy - not at all like a basement, but rather another storefront. The building itself was on the edge of a hill, so the back of the store occupied lower ground allowing the basement to, essentially, be above ground. Down here were the real books on magick, the weaponry for Hunters, and items of power. Crowded around a wooden desk were Erwin, Hange, Armin, and Petra, who was sat directly in front of the book. She looked up and squealed at me, and I grinned back and let out an excited yelp.

“Petra!”

“Y/N!” She bounded over to me and hugged me. “I haven’t seen you for a while! Where have you been?” I pulled back and shrugged.

“Working mainly.”

“Getting into bar fights.” Levi added. I elbowed him and smiled at Petra whose eyes had found my bound hand and was clutching it gently.

“You should see the other guy.” She just looked at me disapprovingly.  

“Let me take a look at your hand and I’ll bring you a salve.” I just nodded at her knowing that she’d just keep hassling me about it until I agreed anyway.

“Have you come any closer to finding out what language it is?” Petra just shook her head as she steered me into the seat and peeled off the wrappings on my hand.

“All I know is that it’s a dead language, but I’m not sure _what._ ”

“Well, shit.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve only had the book for a day. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we won’t crack this in one, either.” Armin told me, laying a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“Arlert’s right, brat. You’re too impatient.” Armin stiffened when he realised that Levi was right behind him and I just smiled at him.

“Ah!” I snatched my hand back from Petra and glared at her.

“Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly and held her hand out for mine again. “But we’ll get there eventually.” Petra paused for a moment, hesitating. “Could- could you tell us what happened that night? So then we might get an idea of what we’re dealing with.”

 

I looked around at everyone, their grave faces all nodded in agreement. I just swallowed and nodded. I hadn’t spoken about that night. At least not since the investigation was closed and the police stopped questioning me. It was still a painful memory, especially when I remember how I lied to the police.

“Y/N… oh, don’t cry!” Petra wrapped her arms around me and I looked around at everybody sheepishly.

“I didn’t… know I was crying.” I huffed a laugh and wiped my eyes. “Uh, I’d taken the book from my gran’s collection. I was obsessed with her books. She always had the best stories, and knew the best places to go for adventures. She always told me that if I was lucky I’d get to dance with the Seelie Court.” I laughed when Levi clicked his tongue and Erwin’s eyebrows rose. We all knew that if you danced with them… you’d never stop. Not until you died of exhaustion, anyway. “It was so… creepy. It made me nervous - I didn’t know why at the time - but it was also exciting.

 

“I pulled the book out during a sleepover and Janine laughed so hard. She made fun of the book and we both just took turns flipping through the pages. The language looked funny to us, and Janine would laugh at me for saying it gave me the creeps… and so she read from it.” I felt a chill run down my spine as I remembered the sounds… the small childish voice reading those words; words that would end up killing her. The sounds of her gasping. The sounds ofmy screams, her name over and over like a prayer. “Nothing happened instantly. We waited, silent and expectant. And then after a few seconds, when nothing happened, Janine just started laughing, but I felt so uneasy. I felt like I had to get as far away as possible. I tried to get her to- to leave, to go somewhere. Downstairs. The garden. Anywhere but that damned room. I started pleading with her. Please. Please, please, please, please…”

 

I felt arms. I felt a body. I vaguely registered the warmth of a body as I spoke, the words just tumbling out of my mouth, but I wasn’t there anymore. I was in my bedroom again. I was eight again. I was there, pleading with Janine frantically, pulling at her arm trying to tug her down the stairs, to get out of that room. “Something’s coming! We have to go. It’s not safe, we have to get out. It’s going to find us. But-but she wasn’t listening. She was laughing. And then-and then she was choking. She started clawing at her throat… she looked at me and I screamed.

 

“Her face was red, her eyes were red… but her lips were blue. Her neck was bleeding because of how she was gouging at herself. I tried to stop her, I did, I did try!” I started to sob as I repeated what I said as a kid. “I promise, I did try.” The sobs just wracked my body as I doubled over. I could hear muffled voices and I could feel the distant sensations of hands on me. “Her throat was bleeding so bad! And then- and then- and then she fell over and just lay there.” I drew in a ragged breath. “She wasn’t moving, and I thought she was dead. I tried to move her. I pushed and I pulled and I hit her and I shouted at her but she wouldn’t wake up. She- she just lay there. Still.” Strong arms wrapped around me. Back in the present, I was being held. But here, in the past, I was alone. I was alone, but _not_ alone.  

 

“And then… _she_ came.” Dread settled in my stomach, heavy and leaden, bile rose in my throat choking off my scream. My sobs had stopped suddenly, turning to silent tears still falling down my cheeks as the fear began to settle over me. “Janine was gone, but her body stood. Her body just… looked at me. No, not at me. _Through_ me. She - it - licked the blood from her fingers and then walked to the window.” The image of Janine walking to the window, her silk pyjamas shining in the light of my bedroom. “I tried. I tried to stop her. I grabbed her sleeve but she pushed me away and the sleeve ripped in my hand as I fell to the ground. Then she told me, ‘Thank you for freeing me. I will send her back.” Her voice sounded so empty. It  _was_ Janine's voice, but at the same time it wasn't. It was like what made her  _her_ was gone. My friend... my  _best friend..._ " My voice was so quiet now, almost a whisper, trembling as I remembered that night; as I relived it in my head. Every feeling, every word, hearing every sound. "And then she… jumped.”

 

I closed my eyes not wanting to see any more. I didn’t want to see the glass shattering around my friend as she pushed herself through the window. I didn’t want to see the blood, and the pink silk, and the hair on the shards of glass that caught as she plunged through the glass and to the ground. I didn’t want to see my hands hiding the book and the piece of sleeve. I didn’t want to see the look on my parents’ faces as they saw the window and me crying under my covers. I just kept my eyes closed and continued crying, trying to banish the feelings that I’d kept down for seventeen years. _Repression_ , is what the therapists called it. They tried all the ways they could to get me to remember, to face my demons, but I couldn’t. Not then, and not now.

 

Hands soothed me as I cried into their shoulder, slowly surfacing from my memory. Once the fear subsided, guilt rushed in to fill the void it left, and had me straightening up. When I opened my eyes, Levi’s grave face was the first thing I saw. His eyes were intense, but his face remained stoic. His hands had moved from my back to my arms. I looked at him and took a deep, shuddering breath. “I lied.” I whispered.

“What about?” His voice was soft as his hand came up to cup my face. He leaned closer to me and I closed my eyes.

“I told the police that she jumped.” My voice was too quiet. Levi frowned and leaned forward.

“What?”

“I-I told the police that she just jumped. That I didn’t know why she did it. I told them we were playing and then she just… jumped.” I opened my eyes to meet his gaze, eyes watering again with tears of guilt. I covered my mouth with my hands. “I lied to the police!” I repeated it over and over again, confessing repeatedly, hoping that it would lighten the load.

 

It didn’t.

 

I looked around, at last, to the others in the room. Petra was looking at me, sorrow written all over her face, tears falling silently down her face. Hange looked more sober than I’d ever seen her, and Armin looked horrified. Erwin stood as stoic as ever, but his eyes showed sympathy. Sympathy I didn’t deserved. My eyes travelled back to Levi and his eyes were filled with determination, hands on either side of my face.

“It’s not your fault.” Soft but firm. Determined. Matter-of-fact. I opened my mouth to say something but Levi’s grip tightened and he shaked my head gently. “It’s not. Your fault.” My bottom lip trembled and a whimper escaped my throat.

“If I hadn’t taken the book- if I hadn’t shown it to her-”

“It’s not your fault, Y/N.” Petra’s voice shook as she took a step forward. “You were a child. A child who didn’t know what she was feeling. A child who only wanted to be a child.” I closed my eyes and cried.

“Come on.” Levi picked me up as I cried into his chest. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I’ll come with you.” Petra ran to the stairs and beckoned Levi to follow her.

 

Petra led us up to her apartment as Levi cradled me in his arms, his hold tight and comforting. I kept murmuring apologies into his chest and he kept batting them away. _Shove it, brat. It’s not your fault. You’re an idiot. You have nothing to be sorry for._ His words, as harsh and rough as they sounded, were Levi’s way of comforting me. He wasn’t one for honeyed words, or sweet nothings. He said what he thought; what he meant. He was honest, and frankly, it was a relief to hear that he didn’t think I was a cretin. It was a relief that his words weren't echoing the ones that were constantly plaguing me.  _Liar. Murderer. Disgusting. Sick. Fiend. Evil._

 

I caught my reflection in the mirror of the bathroom. My face was tear stained and covered in blood.

“What… what happened?” I asked them, my eyes wide with panic.

“You opened the wounds on your hand when you were talking.” Levi told me.

“Levi tried to stop you, but you were just… pushing your thumb into it.” Petra’s face was filled with concern. I just closed my eyes and sighed.

“I haven’t done this for a while.”

“Done what?” Levi stopped wiping my face to watch me.

“I used to hurt myself. Not consciously. My therapist said it was because I was punishing myself for something. I guess she was right.” I laughed bitterly.

“Tch. You’re going to stop that.” Levi continued to clean the blood from my face and Petra left the room for a moment. When she returned she was holding some bandages and a tin.

“This should clean and help the wound heal faster. It’s a salve with a binding spell in it - it’s been specially cast to bind skin.” She smiled gently and took my hand and began to clean it up. Levi just leaned against the wall, arms folded over his chest, and carefully watched me. His face was blank, and I found myself wondering what he was thinking. His eyes were burning, but with what I didn’t know.

 

Petra left the bathroom once she was finished with my hand and gave the tin to Levi, telling him to treat my hand with it twice a day.

“I can do it myself, you know.” I frowned at them. Levi just snorted at me as Petra shot me an apologetic look.

“You’d make a mess of it. I’ll do it.” He just stared at me, and I stared right back. It wasn’t a hostile look, but Petra was uncomfortable enough that she just cleared her throat and announced that she was going back to the book. Levi and I continued to look at each other, and I didn’t know what to say. The silence was beginning to make me squirm. I just _had_ to fill the silence.

“Don’t.” I frowned.

“Don’t what?”

“I know you. You can never just shut up. You always have to talk.”

“I do not!” I lied.

“You’re talking right now.” Levi’s eyes were bright with amusement. I wished he’d tell his face that he was feeling an emotion.

“I’m defending my honour.” Levi’s eyebrow shot up.

“Really? I’d call it talking shit. More shit comes out of your mouth than it does when you take a shit.” I just pulled a face at him making my disgust quite clear to him.

“Okay, fine. I’m in love with you. Is that shit?”

 

Nothing.

 

“I said, I’m in love with you.”

“I know what you said. I’m not deaf.”

“Well?”

“Well what?” I stood up from the toilet seat and shoved his chest with my good hand.

“ _Well_ , when someone tells you they love you, you fucking _react_.”

“Fine.”

“What do you mean ‘fine’?” I scowled at him and, for the first time, I considered actually beating the shit out of him.

“I mean fine. I’ll react.” When he didn’t do anything I raised my eyebrows and threw my hands up as if to say, ‘well?’ and that was when he kissed me.

 

He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me to him, his lips meeting mine in a gentle and sweet kiss. A chaste kiss. He pulled back and I kept my eyes shut, still swooning over the sweetness of the kiss, willing my knees to keep my upright.

“I already know, idiot.” My eyes fluttered open.

“How?” My voice was no louder than a whisper. He huffed a laugh through his nose. It was kind of creepy since his face didn’t move from its usual bored expression. I didn’t know whether to be offended that kissing me didn’t even so much as elicit a small, eenie weenie smile.

“You’re not exactly subtle.” He kissed me again. “And neither was I.” I gave him a look.

“Really? You could have fooled me.” I snorted at him and he just shook his head.

“Idiot.”

 

As I went to retort back my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket awkwardly - it was in my right pocket, but I had to use my left hand - and saw that it was Mike.

“Hey, Mike, what’s up?”

“I need you to come and help me.”

“What with?”

“There’s a little girl. She’s hiding under the house and won’t come out. Her family has been murdered, and I think she’s going into shock.” I pulled a face.

“What, and just because I’m small you think I can get her? Why don’t you call Christa? She’s shorter than me.”

“Y/N, priorities.”

“Yeah… sorry.”

“Anyway, Christa is out on a job, and you’re the only other person that’s good with kids.” My face heated up in embarrassment that I’d assumed it was because of my size.

“Oh. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay.” Mike hung up and I tugged on Levi’s shirt, pulling him out the door.

“I need a driver.” I told him as I pulled up the tracing app Hange created for us. I felt Levi grab the back of my shirt.

“Watch where you’re going, brat.” I looked up and saw that I was right on the edge of the stairs. I blinked at them for a moment before straightening up. 

“Thanks.”

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know yet, but Mike said there’s a little girl that needs help.” Levi just grunted as we made our way to the car. As soon as the tracer gave me a location I handed the phone to Levi and we were on our way. We'd been sat in silence for about twenty minutes before I spoke again. 

 

“They found her body two months later.” My voice was quiet but it cut through the silence of the car. Levi glanced at me sidelong but I kept my eyes on my hands. “Her parents were distraught. The pathologist said she suffocated, and noticed the scratches on her throat-” I stopped myself and took a deep breath. I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t lose myself to the memory, and I wouldn’t break down. Not again. “Her body was found in front of the hospital close to where we lived. She said she’d bring her back… and she did.” Levi’s hand grabbed my hand gently and he gave it a soft squeeze. I smiled, a small smile, and faced out the window. “I couldn’t even bring myself to go to her funeral. I felt so guilty.”

“We’ll catch this bitch, and then we’ll get justice for Janine.” He told me. His voice was strong and his eyes were blazing. My heart fluttered and I realised just how much he cared for me. And just how much I cared for him.

“Thank you, Levi.”

“For what?”

“Not judging me.”

“There’s nothing to judge you about. You were a kid and you made a mistake.”

“I love you.”

“Yeah, I know.” Levi smiled. It was a small, gentle smile that almost wasn’t there. But I saw it. “I love you too, idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Peeks from behind hands* How was it? 
> 
> This one seemed a bit crappy to me, and took me FAAAAR longer to write than it should have because I kept going back and deleting stuff, and getting sidetracked by research. But, yeah, that was Chapter Five. Let me know what you thought. Feedback is very much appreciated. 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, Request <3


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, another sort of filler chapter, but has a definite relevance. Not really to the plot, more to the fluff, and the ending. All of this does have a point, trust me. I've been wanting to write this chapter for a few days to be honest.   
> It's also an apology for my late update last night, and I wanted a bit of angst and feels, with some slight fluff (Levi and Reader-chan with a smol orphan?? CAN YOU GUYS NOT GUESS WHERE THIS IS GOING??) 
> 
> And I'd like to shout out to NightFury, who is a total sweetheart. Thank you for commenting on this piece, and I hope you enjoy the future chapters ^_^ <3 
> 
> ENJOY my lovelies.

When we pulled up Mike was waiting for us in front of the house, arms folded, and frown set on his face. He walked towards us as we got out of the car and glanced back at the house. 

“She’s been under there since I arrived. Eren and Mikasa are in the house… cleaning.” I winced and glanced to the house. 

“What was it?” I asked, my voice low, hoping the poor girl couldn’t hear. 

“Pontianak.” His face was grim and I closed my eyes and covered my mouth. Even Levi cursed under his breath. 

 

Pontianaks were horrendous creatures; they were the vengeful spirits of women who had died in childbirth. They seduced - and killed - the husband, and feasted on the flesh of pregnant women. If they were having to clean… 

“Poor kid.” My eyes were prickling as I marched over to the house. I pointed to the opening and looked at Mike for confirmation, which he gave me by nodding once. I could hear a whimpering as I crouched down to the opening. “Hey.” I cooed, my voice soft, as I eased myself into a sitting position. I could see her curled up, staring blankly ahead, face dirtied and streaked, and whimpering quietly. “It’s okay, now. You’re safe. We’re here to help you.” I cringed at my words. This kid has just lived through her parents - unborn sibling included - being viciously murdered. Things certainly weren’t alright. “Look… it’s kind of lonely out here. Do you mind if I come in with you?” The girl just flinched and retreated in further back, whimpering louder. “Okay. Okay, I’ll stay here. Can you… can you tell me your name, sweetie?” Trembling breath and gentle whimpering were my only answers. “My name is Y/N. And the tall guy is Mike. He’s okay.” I lowered my voice to a whisper as I leaned my head down lower. “He’s a bit weird, though. He’s always smelling things. Even dirty socks.” I smiled to her and she just stared at me, eyes as wide as a deer. “And the little one is Levi. He’s nice, too. A little grumpy, but I like to think of myself as Snow White.” I beamed at her. She blinked at me and I smiled at her, a soft greeting leaving my mouth. “There you are.” 

 

Her eyes were moving, and that was something. She wasn’t just staring into the distance, eyes glazed as she remembered what had happened in the house. I dreaded to think about what Mikasa and Eren were facing in there. 

“I’m Y/N.” I called softly and she just opened her mouth. I looked at her expectantly, a gentle smile on my face. “You don’t have to tell me your name yet. I just need to know that you know that you’re safe now.” The girl shook her head softly. 

“If it’s quiet… that means she’s here.” A terrified whisper. My heart broke. The fact that she knew that… it was horrifying. 

 

The Pontianak's screeching was loud if she was far away, but if it was a whisper in your ear… you were royally screwed and running wouldn’t help you. I opened my mouth to say something but I couldn’t think of anything to say so I settled for nodding. 

“I know. I know, thank you.” 

“She hurt them. Her fingers-”

“Hey.” I gently soothed. “Hey, no, don’t do that.” I crawled in under the house and she shot back, sitting up with her legs hugging her chest, staring at me. “Don’t. You don’t need to tell me any of that, okay? I just want you to come out from under here.” 

“This is home.” Her voice was small and croaky and I wondered how old she was. 

“I know.” 

“Mummy and daddy are hurt.” I swallowed and nodded. 

“I know.” My voice was no louder than a whisper. 

“They were screaming.”

“I know.” 

“I ran away. I didn’t help them.” She started crying and I reached out to her. She flinched under my touch but didn’t move away. I gently stroked her knee, trying to comfort her without moving too close. 

“Your parents would have wanted you to hide. You did good.” She shook her head. 

“They shouted for help and I didn’t.” 

“That’s not what they meant. They didn’t want you to help them… they were just calling for another adult.” 

“I should have tried.” I couldn’t take it anymore. I shuffled forward and pulled the sobbing girl to me and sat her between my legs as I folded myself around her tightly. 

“No, you shouldn’t have. You did the right thing, okay? Your parents would have wanted you to be safe.” I rocked backwards and forwards with her, keeping my grip firm around her, and murmuring into her hair. I wanted her to feel safe, yes, but I also didn’t want her running away from me. “But you’re safe now. Our jobs are to protect people and now that we’re here, you’re safe. You’re safe, okay.” 

 

I must have sat under there with the little girl in my arms for at least a half hour, just rocking her back and forth. I was currently stroking her hair and shushing her. She’d stopped sobbing and gone back to the whimpers so I thought I’d try my luck. 

“Can you come out from under here? We can sit in my car. It’s much more comfortable, and I have water and snacks.” A very small, almost imperceptible nod made me smile. “Atta girl.” I unravelled myself from around her and offered her my hand. She looked at it for a moment before hesitantly taking it. I crawled out awkwardly, unable to use my injured hand to help myself crawl out, and staggered to my feet. I turned to help the girl out but she had scampered out and clung to me, hiding herself from view behind me. I grabbed her arms and crouched to her. “Will you be okay walking, or do you want me to hold you?” 

“Carry me.” She murmured and I nodded as I picked her up and kept my grip on her firm. 

“Can you tell me your name, sweetheart?” 

“Dana.” 

“Hello, Dana. That’s a pretty name. How old are you, Dana?” 

“Eight.” My heart squeezed. She was the same age as I was when Janine died. 

 

I walked past Mike and Levi wordlessly and felt her flinch and hide her face from their view. I noticed that Mikasa and Eren were sat out the front of the house, and they had rose to their feet when they saw me. I offered a small smile in greeting and continued to my car. My hand was burning under the strain of supporting Dana, but I just grit my teeth. Levi had opened the door of the car for me and I sat her down in the back seat. Her eyes widened and she clung to me. 

“Hey, shh. It’s okay.” I knelt on the dusty ground and held her hands in mine. “This car is special.” I pointed to the carvings under the windows. “You see these?” She nodded faintly. “Well, these are what stop those things from getting in. Nothing can get into this car, okay? You’re safe.” I was starting to annoy myself constantly repeating the same things. Was there nothing else I could say? Was I really this god damned _useless_? 

 

Dana nodded at me and relaxed slightly, but still clung to my hands. Levi was stood behind me and Dana shrunk away slightly. I turned to look at him and saw his usual bored expression, but it was gentler. 

“Dana, this is Levi.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “That’s grumpy.” 

“I can hear you, you know.” I winked at Dana and smiled at her. She offered a weak smile and I squeezed her hand slightly. 

“See? Grumpy.” Levi just walked off, and I’m almost positive that he rolled his eyes before he did. “Levi’s going to be coming with us, okay? I’ll take you back to my house until we find somewhere for you, yeah?” Dana just eyed Levi warily and nodded. I smiled at her and tucked her golden hair behind her ear. “Good girl. Now,” I gripped her hand a bit tighter and she looked back at me. I’m just going to be in this seat here, okay? I’ll be driving and you’re sat behind me. It’ll take me two seconds to be back. Will you be okay?” She hesitated but let go of my hand tentatively. I smiled at her and closed the door before jumping into the driver’s seat. I looked back at her and saw her tracing the protection wards. “It’s a protection symbol. I can show you a book full of them, if you like. I’ll even let you draw a few around the house to make it even safer.” She looked at me and nodded emphatically and I smiled sadly at her.  _ Poor kid. _

“Will you be okay?” I looked up at Levi who was sat in the passenger side pinning me with a look. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Your hand.” I looked down at the bandages and shrugged. 

“If I can carry an eight year old, then I think I can rest it on a steering wheel and make circular motions.” Levi just grunted and faced the front. 

“What happened to your hand?” Dana croaked. I gave her a lopsided smile and winked at her. 

“I hurt it fighting off bad guys.” Levi snorted. 

“She hurt it by being an idiot.” I glared at him. 

“I was defending myself.”

“You grabbed a knife by the blade.” He levelled a flat look at me.

“I was thinking on my feet.”

“Well. You were on your feet, at least.” I huffed at him and looked back at Dana. 

“Do you need a drink, or a snack?” She looked at me for a minute before she nodded. I turned to Levi and smacked his arm. He shot me a glare and I nodded to the glove compartment. “Open that. There should be food in there.” Before he could move I leaned down and reached under his seat. Levi stiffened as my face was in his lap, he watched me with a bored expression, but his eyes were fixed to mine. I just quirked an eyebrow at him and felt around for the bottle of water I had dropped down there a few days ago. “Ah! Come to mama!” Levi’s eyebrows rose and he smirked at me. I ignored him as I sat up and offered her the water. “Sorry, it’s a bit old. I’ll get you something better from the store.” She took the bottle regardless and I slapped Levi’s arm again. “Levi! Food.” 

“Will you stop hitting me, brat!” I stared at him flatly, holding out my hand. 

“Food.” Levi just sat forward and opened the glove compartment, his eyebrows rising in surprise. 

“Fuck. How much food do you need?” 

“Language! And I need options. Sometimes you don’t feel like a cereal bar, or a biscuit, so you may want a sweet.” I shrugged. 

 

Levi picked out a packet of crisps, copious packets of sweets, biscuits, cereal bars… and he closed his eyes and took a measured breath. 

“Really?” He pulled out tinned pineapple chunks and stared at me. 

“What? I like pineapple, and I had a craving one day and never got around to eating them.” He frowned at me and pulled out a tin of dog food. “That’s for if I meet a stray! Poor puppy might be hungry. I can’t let a poor dog go hungry.” 

“You can’t feed the kid junk, or dog food.” He told me flatly. 

“Pineapples are healthy." I countered, holding my finger up to him. "And the dog food is for  _ dogs _ . God.” I grabbed few items from Levi’s lap and offered them to Dana. “I have a lot of choices.” 

“You have a whole goddamned shop in here.” Levi muttered and I just rolled my eyes at him. Dana giggled slightly and took the crisps and some biscuits. I grabbed the pineapple and offered it to her. “Fancy some pineapple? You can drink the juice if you want?” 

“Not everyone is as weird as you, shithead.” 

“Will you watch your language, damnit!” I looked back at Dana and she shook her head and I just shrugged. 

 

I started the car up and started the journey back home, chattering about absolute rubbish, not caring that I sounded like an absolute fool. I wanted to ease Dana’s unease, to help her to trust us. I know what it felt like to have no one to turn to - it was different circumstances from Dana, but it was effectively the same result: two little girls who didn’t have anyone to face the monsters with. Well, now Dana had us. I pulled up outside of a store and smiled sweetly at Levi.  

“What?” 

“Can you jump into the store for me and grab some stuff?” 

“Tch. Do it yourself, lazy brat.”

“I can’t.” I raided my bandaged hand and pouted sadly. 

“You can drive and carry an eight year old, but you can’t shop?” I shook my head. 

“I can’t pick up all the stuff with one hand…” Levi just heaved a sigh and I grinned. “Thank you. Can you get full fat milk, cream, and then maybe some juice.” I looked into the back. “Do you like juice?” Dana nodded. “Get juice, too.” 

“What kind of juice?” His eyebrow raised at me and I shrugged. He looked at Dana. “What kind of juice?” Dana thought for a second. 

“Orange, please.” He nodded and looked back at me. 

“Anything else?” 

“Not unless there’s anything you can think of.” Levi just left the car and jogged into the store and I looked at Dana and smiled. “I was thinking of either pizza, or Chinese for dinner. What do you think?” 

“My mum never let us have take-out for dinner.” She said quietly. 

“Well, I guess we can have spaghetti instead, then. I hope you like bolognese.” She smiled tentatively and nodded slightly.

 

We spent the rest of the time in the car talking about things to do. Well, I spoke. Dana would just nod or shake her head. We decided that I’d let her draw in some protection runes around the house, and then we’d watch a movie with dinner. I was considering what to do with her when Levi hopped back into the car. With three bags. 

“What the hell?” I looked through the bags and saw that Levi had a whole bag with the items I’d requested, a whole bag of cleaning supplies - which made me shoot him a filthy glare - and a bag filled with odds and ends. Yoghurt, Ice cream, pizza rolls, fruit, vegetables, and other things that kids would want to eat. I smiled at him and he just looked at me. 

“Are you going to go, or are we gonna sit here forever.” 

“Oh, I think Dana might get bored if we sat here forever.” I quipped as I turned the engine on and pulled out of the car park.  

“Hurry up, I need to shit.” I frowned at Levi and glanced at him. 

“Lovely. Do tell me more.” Levi just snorted and opened his eyes. “Ah! No, I was kidding. Jeez. There are some things I’m more than happy to leave to my imagination.”

“You imagine him pooping?” Dana piped up, a frown on her face. I gasped in mock hurt. 

“I like this kid.” Levi commented with a smirk. 

“I can’t believe this. I thought girls were supposed to stick together.” I eyed Dana in the rearview mirror, a small smile of amusement on my face. She smiled - an open mouthed smile - and shook her head. 

“Not if someone says something dumb.” I gaped at her, and scoffed at the newest team that had formed. Levi glanced back at her appraisingly and she offered a timid smile to him. 

 

I smiled at the pair of them, happy that Dana at least felt comfortable enough to trust us. She was strong, I had to give her that. A proper trooper. I just hoped that over time she’d heal properly. Not like me. I wanted her to be able to talk about what happened and not repress it; to not just _break_ one day. 

 

Once we’d gotten back to the apartment Levi unpacked the stuff he’d bought and I grabbed the occult book from my bag and sat down with Dana. I showed her the various runes and what they meant, and then she took a look at the marks I’d already made. 

“I think this is fine.” She noted sheepishly as she took in the copious carvings I'd made around the doors and windows. 

“Are you sure? We can always add more.” 

“She said it’s fine.” Levi stood in the doorway of the kitchen watching us. 

“I just… I want Dana to feel safe, okay?” I told him, chewing on the inside of my lip. 

“It’s going to be a while yet, brat. Patience.” Levi pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. My heart fluttered at the action; loving and… domestic. It was nice. Really nice. 

 

A scream pierced the air and we broke apart as I raced to Dana’s side, grabbing her and moving her behind me instinctively. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I scanned the room. A shimmering caught my eyes and I swiftly peeled back the glamour. “Arelith? What are you doing?” I looked at the Brownie in relief and turned to Dana. 

“I was finishing the windows when you came back with the Screamer.” Arelith answered somewhat haughtily. Dana just eyed the Brownie with fear in her eyes. Arelith was odd looking, granted. She was cute, but on the creepy side. Her big eyes were all black with brown circles around them where they were sunken into her head. She had a tiny little nose that reminded me of a baby’s nose, and her smile was pleasant enough when it was a closed mouth smile. When she grinned at you, or spoke, you could see all of her pointed teeth. She was a small being and very skinny, and her gaunt head looked almost too big for her body. I could understand the fear of her. Especially because she rarely smiled, and when she did it looked malicious. 

“Wait.” I stiffened. “Can you see her?” I asked Dana. Dana just nodded. 

“I saw something shining and I wondered what it was. When I concentrated… that appeared.” Dana cowered behind me and Arelith bristled. 

“ _ That _ ?” I glared at her. 

“Arelith.” My tone was serious; menacing. 

“Leave the kid alone.” Levi sounded bored and I looked up and saw he was glaring at the Brownie. 

“Who are _you_?” She demanded. I just let them get on with their business and hugged Dana. 

“Someone who’s not afraid of you.” 

“I can see that.  _ What  _ are you?”

“A Seer.” 

“So not a faerie, then?” Arelith’s eyes glimmered and I shook my head. 

“There’s milk in the fridge. And cream. Help yourself as payment for your favour, and then give us some space. Dana’s been through enough today.” Arelith glanced at me and sniffed the air. 

“I can smell the fear.” She commented and her smile made me draw Dana behind me. 

“Arelith.” I warned. The Brownie just smiled for a moment longer before disappearing to the kitchen. I led Dana to the couch and sat her down. I cupped her face and noticed that she was still dirty. 

“How about we give your face a wash?” Dana nodded, her eyes still wide and she clung to my arm. “You stay here with Levi and I’ll go and get some water and some juice.” Levi plunked down on the couch and Dana just nodded her hands moving from my arm to Levi’s side. Levi glanced at her, a confused frown on his face, before he relaxed and his face turned back to normal. 

 

I walked to the kitchen and noticed the door to the fridge open. I shook my head and glanced in, warning Arelith not to take too much since I wasn’t going to go back to get more for at least a few days. She just grumbled at me, cursing me a stingy human, and slammed the door. I chuckled and grabbed a bowl and filled it with warm water, and then swiped a clean tea towel to clean Dana’s face with. I pottered around and found some soap in the bathroom and then it occurred to me: I should call Erwin. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, it’s Y/N.” 

“Where are you?” 

“Home. Mike called and asked me to help him. There was a girl whose parents were hunted by the Pontianak.”

“Shit.” 

“Yeah.” I was silent for a moment before I spoke again. “Look, I need you to come over again. Dana - the little girl - I think she’s a Seer. I think… I think she might be like me.” 

“An Abnormal.” I frowned at the term (the term for a Seer who has no Seer relatives that they know of) but confirmed it. “Okay. I’m still with Petra so I’ll leave now.” 

“Oh! Before you go, can you get Petra to make me some more of the Elixir, please?” Erwin seemed to hesitate before I heard voices in the background, followed by the trill of Petra’s voice. 

“She said it’ll be ready in a few days.”

“Okay, see you in a bit.” 

 

I hung up and took the water and juice into Dana, who was still clung to Levi, and she jumped at my arrival. I smiled apologetically and sat cross legged on the floor in front of the couch. Levi’s arm had been wrapped around the girl’s shoulders and I smiled at the sight. I sat the juice on the table beside the couch and began to clean her face off. I had to try not to smile broadly when I noticed how Levi kept a protective hand on Dana's back as she sat on the edge on the couch. 

“I don’t have any clothes for you to wear, unfortunately, but there is a place where there are other kids like you. You could borrow clothes from them until we go and get you some.” Levi watched Dana intently. 

“Kids like me?” I nodded. 

“Kids who have seen things. Kids who…” I trailed off, unable to just blurt out that she was an orphan. It turns out I didn’t need to. 

“Kids that have no parents.” She finished sadly, her eyes watering. I dropped the cloth in the bowl and cupped her face. 

“I’m so sorry, Dana.” I tucked her hair behind her shoulder and watched her earnestly. He green eyes just stared at me, wide and watering, so full of sorrow. “I really am.” I whispered. I wiped away a tear that ran down her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” I didn’t know what else to say. What could you say to a child who’d lost her family? The only words I had were the ones I wanted to hear when my grandmother died. So I used them. “I know it hurts. And it’s okay to cry. You cry as much as you want, for as long as you want, okay? But whatever you do,” I looked at her, forcing her to look into my face, “don’t ever think that you’re alone. Because you’re not. You have me.” My voice was quiet but strong. Gentle but authoritative. "For always."

“And me.” Levi added. Dana looked at him, and then at me and just burst into tears. I picked her up and hugged her to me, trying to offer her as much comfort as I could. I made eye contact with Levi we just shared a solemn look. I knew that Levi would help this girl. I  _knew_ he would. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd I do?? Angsty? Feelsy enough?? I hope I gave you a little bit of a laugh, too. Let me know what you think!! 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, Request.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I think this one is fairly dialogue heavy, and does feature a small amount of plot progression. And some humour which I may or may not have sniggered at like a child. I've also added a bit more world building to it, too. More SNK references, I suppose. 
> 
> Enjoy this chapter my Lovelies!! :* 
> 
> <3

Levi answered the door when Erwin arrived an hour later, and Dana was still crying in my lap. Erwin saw her and his face was the very picture of a concerned father. I smiled at him and he approached the pair of us and crouched down by me. 

“Dana?” She looked at me, eyes red and puffy, tears streaking her face. “This is Erwin. He looks after the children like you.” I told her. She turned her head to look at him and then buried her head in my chest once more and continued crying. 

“It’s okay, Dana. I’m not taking you away, I just wanted to introduce myself.” Erwin’s voice was low and soothing. 

“She’s had a hard day.” Erwin just nodded solemnly.

“How are you?” He looked at me and I just nodded, swallowing the lump that had appeared in my throat. 

“Better. I’m sorry about that.” 

“Don’t be. I think I have an idea what it might be. Your story helped us.” 

“Oh?” I perked up, my back straightening. 

“She could be a God.” A chill cut through me. 

“A God?” 

“That would explain the ability to possess another person.” 

“But a demon can possess people. So can spirits.” I countered. Levi just looked at me flatly. 

“Does it feel like a spirit to you? Or a demon?” I shook my head. 

“No. It feels… older.” 

 

I sat there and thought about what Erwin had said. A God? It made sense, after all. It felt old and powerful, and the way she spoke to Levi and I; it was measured and cool. Demons had a particular proclivity for torment and destruction. It would have played with us. And a spirit is usually full of anger and vengeance. But a God was less concerned with torment, even if it was a negative one. 

“It said that she had been woken and unbound. So, does that mean she was…” I searched for a word. 

“Contained?” Erwin offered and I nodded. “Most likely.” 

“What would she have had to do to be locked away?” 

“It depends on what God she is. Once we figure out the language we’ll have a better idea on what to research.” I nodded and told him to take a seat. He took a seat in the wingback chair and I sat Dana on the couch.

“I’m going to go and fix Erwin a drink. Stay here, okay? I’m just through there,” I pointed behind me to the kitchen, “so if you need me just shout.” Before I left the room I passed her a blanket to cuddle into and then walked into the kitchen. 

 

I leaned my elbows on the edge of the sink and held my head in my hands as I digested what we were talking about. Had we really summoned a  _ God? _ Two kids reading some dead language, managing to read it well enough to summon a  _ God? _ What were the chances? I felt hands on my hips and I glanced behind me. Levi was stood behind me, his hands rubbing soothing circles into my hips. It was odd to see the contrast of Levi’s gentle, loving actions, and the blandness of his expressions. However, his eyes were where his emotion was if you knew where to look. I stood up straight and leaned my head back onto his shoulder. His arms snaked around my waist and he pressed a kiss to exposed neck. 

“What the hell did we do?” I asked him. Levi growled at me to stop. 

“Don’t think like that.”

“How can I not? It’s my fault she died. It’s my fault her parents split, it’s my fault-” Levi spun me around to face him. 

“Cut that shit out now.” His eyes were blazing and his frown made me look away from him. I sighed and rested my forehead on his chest. 

“I’m sorry.” Levi’s chin rested on my head and I closed my eyes to enjoy the peace of the moment. I listened to his heartbeat, slow and steady, and felt his chest expanding with his breaths. “What do we do now?” Levi was silent for a moment and I noticed how he was slightly swaying, as if he was rocking me like I had rocked Dana earlier. I smiled into his chest at the thought. 

“We fight this shitty God, we keep an eye on Dana, we get on with our lives.” 

“Together?” Levi pulled away to look at me and I felt the butterflies in my stomach fluttering. 

“Of course.” 

 

I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips and he captured my face with his hands, holding me gently. My hands were resting on his chest and I gripped his shirt in my hands softly. Levi pulled away from me to murmur, “Always together. I’m not letting you go, brat.” I chuckled softly and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him once more, pulling him closer as I nipped at his bottom lip receiving a groan in return. I smirked at him and pulled away. 

“We should keep this PG.” 

“Fuck PG.” He growled as he took my lips again and lifted me onto the countertop. I squeaked and wrapped my legs around him. 

“Levi…” I tried to protest but my heart wasn’t into it. I vaguely registered voices coming from the living room, but they didn’t seem panicked. I pulled Levi closer to me, leaning forward to meet him. Levi’s hand were on the sides of my thighs, and they were sliding upwards so slowly I thought I’d die from sheer anticipation. “Levi…” His name was more of a moan that an attempt to stop him. Levi pulled his mouth from mine so that we no longer kissing but remained perilously close as he spoke. 

“The next time we’re alone, nothing is going to stop me from fucking you.” He told me, his voice low and husky. I could feel the sound vibrating in his chest and I groaned. Even his voice made me crazy for him. Levi made to kiss me again but as I moved to meet him he moved back, keeping his lips just out of reach. He smirked at me and promptly left the kitchen leaving me flustered and very, very hot. 

 

It took me a few moments to compose myself and I took the opportunity to make tea for Erwin, Levi, and I. Levi smirked at me when I refused to meet his eyes, Erwin just smiled at me, and I shuffled next to Dana. 

“I was telling Dana about the Compound.” Erwin told me. I raised my eyebrows at him and looked at Dana. 

“Yeah? What do you think, you maybe want to go have dinner there and meet some other people?”

“You just don’t want to cook.” Levi quipped. I looked at him flatly. 

“I don’t really want to be in a kitchen at the moment.” He smirked at me knowingly and took a sip of tea. He made a face and looked at me, frowning, and I just took a sip of my tea as I watched him innocently. I’d put too much sugar in it deliberately. The look he gave me made heat pool in me, and I knew he’d make me pay for that in the most wonderful way imaginable. My toes curled in my shoes as I tried to remain calm. 

“Well, you’re certainly welcome to do that if you wish.” Dana looked at Erwin for a moment and then looked up at me. 

“Could we? I want to see it. Erwin said that there was a glamour over it.” Dana’s eyes were dry, and her voice seemed stable. Whatever Erwin and Dana had spoken about when Levi and I were in the kitchen had made her curious about the Compound. I smiled at her. 

“Of course, sweetie. Of course we can. We can pick up some clothes for you to change into, and then we can go shopping for some new clothes for you tomorrow if you like?” Dana nodded sadly. 

“I wish I could have my old clothes. The ones Mum bought.” Her bottom lip trembled and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I looked at Erwin and he nodded at me. 

“Thank you.” I mouthed to him, knowing that he had understood my silent question. “Well,” I cleared my throat, “it’s around time for dinner anyway. We should start heading, and then we can take a walk around the place if you want, after?” Dana nodded her head and we all stood up. 

“Y/N, may I borrow some books from you?” Erwin asked. 

“Yeah, sure. Just go through to my bedroom and take a look. Hange had them all out when she was here. I haven’t had a chance to put them back yet. The rest are in the wardrobe;  take what you need. We’ll see you back at the Compound, okay?” Erwin just nodded and we left for the car. 

 

I threw Levi my keys and he caught them with a hand and I smiled at him, telling him that I couldn’t be bothered driving, telling him that I was too tired. He smirked at me when I gave him an accusing stare and hopped into the driver’s seat. 

“So… who are you guys?” Dana asked us timidly. I smiled back at her. 

“We’re what you call Seers. It’s because we can see things that Regulars can’t. And then we Hunt things, and save people from dangerous things.” 

“You see things... like that thing from earlier?” 

“Yes, Arelith is a Brownie. She helps me out around the house in exchange for milk, and sometimes cream.”

“What- what about the thing that…” She trailed off but I knew what she was talking about. I opened my mouth to answer but no sound came out. I didn’t know what to say. 

“You don’t want to know about that, brat.” Levi answered for me. 

“Yes, I do!” I looked back at Dana and saw that her face was pleading with us. I sighed and nodded. 

“It was a bad spirit. It’s something called a Pontianak. They’re not very nice at all.” I watched her as she took my explanation in. 

“What does it do?” I gaped at her. 

“We’re not going to tell you that. At least not now.” I looked at Levi and and then out of the window. I knew she’d ask one day, but I didn’t think it would be  _ now _ .

“I’m going to kill it.” I turned to look at the girl in the back seat. She had a look of quiet determination on her face as tears silently fell down her cheeks. I leaned over and wiped them with my thumb. She looked at me and set her jaw. “I will. I’m going to learn how to kill it, and I’ll find it.” I nodded. 

“Okay. One day, I take you out and we’ll hunt it together, okay? But… just wait a while.” Dana just looked out the window and didn’t speak for the rest of the car journey. I looked at Levi and saw that he was watching her in the rearview mirror. He glanced at me and I just closed my eyes. It was definitely a surprise to hear her speak like that. But then, we didn’t really know Dana. 

 

***

 

The kids were all excited about the new arrival, and they weren’t subtle about their staring. Dana clung to Levi when she noticed that the kids kept their distance from him, and I didn’t fail to notice the protective arm he had on her back as they walked. I chuckled at the pair and sent them to see Hange. Hange would be a good distraction for her, so then I could talk to the kids. 

“Okay, guys, you may have noticed the new girl.”

“Who is she?” A kid called out. 

“Dude, if you shut up, she’ll tell us.” 

“Hey, fuck you.” 

“Hey! Language, please. You’re kids, you shouldn’t be cursing like that.” I frowned at them all and noticed two kids - Zach and Dylan - were scowling at each other. “Okay, both of you," I pointed at them both as I stood on the bench to look out at them all, "can it.” They frowned at me but otherwise remained quiet. “Her name is Dana, she’s eight, and her parents were the victims of a Pontianak attack.” 

 

The silence in the room was deafening. These kids were all learning about the supernatural here, they had lessons and went to school, but then they could also choose to learn about Hunting. Only if they wanted to. All of them did. They had all been orphaned because of various creatures, and they all knew that they couldn’t go back to being ignorant. So, they all knew about Pontianaks. A few of them were looking a little green, some were looking angry, and others just looked sad. 

“Under no circumstances will any of you tell her what a Pontianak attack is like. None of you. If I find out any of you have… you’ll have me to answer to.” I stared at them all and smirked. “Of course, that’s if Levi doesn’t find out first.” Bingo. That put the fear into them. 

“Why not, though? Doesn’t she deserve to know?” One girl, Cassie, asked. 

“Of course!" I nodded at her earnestly. "But she’s only eight. How would you feel if someone just blurted out to you how your parents were disembowelled and eaten when you were that young? How would you feel to learn that your mother was pregnant when she was killed?” I heard gasps go through the kids. 

“Her mother was pregnant?” a few muttered.

“Of course, idiot. Ponts only kill pregnant women.” a voice called across the room.

“No they don’t, moron! They kill men, too!” 

“Enough!” I scowled at them all. “Pontianaks kill pregnant women, yes, and they also kill men. Okay? If you’d all have done the reading you were assigned on them, you’d know that.” Guilty faces looked away from me and I shook my head gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m the one giving you guys your next lesson anyway. We’ll recap Pontianaks if you need it, and then we’re moving on to the Seelie.” Some kids got excited at the thought and started nudging their friends. “Okay, dinner will be ready soon, so go back to what you were doing. And remember: not a word.” 

 

I jumped off of the bench I’d stood on and a few kids came up to ask a few questions about various different creatures, and one even asked about their homework for school. 

“Levi’s the French expert, you should ask him.” The poor kid looked terrified at the suggestion. I laughed and squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll ask him for you, okay?” 

“No, i-it’s okay. I’ll ask.” He said miserably and shuffled away. I nodded and smiled at the thought. He was becoming braver, clearly. Levi would help, of course. That’s what we were here for. Plenty of Seers knew about the Compound but decided not to be a part of the Scouts because they didn’t want the responsibility of kids. Teaching them, feeding them, nursing them when they were sick, going to the school when they were punished... 

 

It was either Erwin or I that went to parents evenings, but on the odd occasion Levi would go, and the teachers never really recovered fully. Needless to say Levi was rarely asked; maybe if the teacher was being unfair to a kid. Sometimes Christa and Ymir would go, too - Ymir having a similar reception to Levi. And a sweet guy called Marco used to go, but that was before he was killed on a Hunt. Becoming a part of this family was not a necessary thing, but it was definitely a welcome relief when someone agreed to actually work as a part of the Scouts. We were usually handed the more difficult cases, and people couldn't handle that as it was, without having to add children into the mix. 

 

Most people would stick to their own local areas; they liked to have a life so they couldn't afford to travel too far afield since their families would be vulnerable (we called them the Stationary Guard for obvious reasons). A small minority of people would just take cases that weren't too far to travel, travelling a few days out of their towns to Police the creatures that committed note worthy offences (usually they found them in the papers and would follow up on the leads) and so we would refer to them as MPs - Magical Police. They were the Hunters that usually tried to hunt _us_ , so our relationship with the MPs was less than favourable. But the Scouts... we would travel much further distances. We would travel across the country if it meant saving people from harm. There were even less of us because of how solitary this life could be, and how tough it was. It really tested you and your resolve. So, I guess we were the most dedicated to the cause; the most dedicated to saving humanity. 

 

I could hear Hange talking long before she appeared in the Dining Hall. Levi’s eyes found me instantly and I nodded at him. He gave me a questioning look when he noticed how the kids kept an extra few feet between themselves and him than usual. I chuckled. 

“I threatened them with you if they told Dana about how her parents were killed.” 

“Tch.”

“What is Hange talking about?” 

“No idea. Dana asked her what she was doing and she hasn’t shut up since.” I looked over at the pair. Dana was staring up at Hange completely enamoured by her, hanging on to every word she spoke. And Hange was clearly relishing the willing pupil, and perhaps future assistant. 

“Bless.” 

“Bless my arse.”

“There . Now it has been blessed. ” Levi just rolled his eyes at me as he walked off to get food.

 

I sniggered at him and went to sit by Dana, who was still gazing at Hange like she was the most amazing person on the planet, and listened to the conversation. 

“... so the glamours are just like clothes in a way, and if I can find a way to make them permanent so that even Seers can’t see past them, we could replace clothes!” 

“Uh… Hange, I don’t think that would be a great idea.”

“Why not?” Hange looked at me, her eyes manic, and I leaned away from her slightly. 

“Well, you know, if you find a way for glamours to be unseen by even  _ us _ … then people could use that  _ against _ us.” Hange’s face fell, and for a split second I felt like the worst person in the world. “I’m sorry.” 

“What are you sorry for?” Levi sat a plate of food in front of Dana and himself before sitting on the bench beside me. 

“I kind of burst Hange’s bubble about making glamours unseen by Seers.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?” 

“Because it was a dangerous idea!” I looked at Levi incredulously and he just stared at me. 

“Not you. Her.” 

“Oh. She wanted to replace clothes.” Levi frowned slid his gaze to Hange. 

“What the fuck? Do you just want to take a shit without having to pull your pants down?” Hange sniggered at him and just shrugged. 

“Think about how you could invent your own clothes for no cost! Poor kids could have huge collections of clothes, you wouldn’t need to pay for laundry… the possibilities are endless. And it’s not just clothes! Cars, bikes, houses...” 

“Why not just glamour what you already have with glamours as they are now? Why do  _ we _ need to not be able to see through them?”

“Well, unless you want to get an eye full of some dude’s junk…” My eyes widened and I nodded. 

“I’d rather not, thanks.” I looked away trying desperately _not_ to imagine some old dude wearing glamour clothes and the glamour peeling away from him. I shivered. "I don't see why you have to be naked, either." I muttered. I looked at Levi and pouted. "Oh..."

“What?” 

“You didn’t get me any food.” 

“Get your own food, shitty brat.” 

 

I scowled at him and just huffed as I went to get my own food. Hange jumped up and came with me. She looked like she was thinking. 

“Do you really think it’s a bad idea?” I nodded at her weakly. 

“I do, sorry. I mean, it’s ingenious - it really is - but it could also be dangerous for us. If you did create it you’d have to make sure the wrong people didn’t find out.” Hange just grinned at me and I widened my eyes and shook my head. 

“No.” I said slowly. “No, no, no, no! Don’t even  _ think _ about it!” 

“Well, we could definitely use this technology for good! It would make hunting more effective, and safer!” 

“No, Hange! Jeez, you are seriously mad!” I grabbed a plate and started to spoon up a generous helping of casserole. “I should know…” I added wryly. Hange smiled at me. 

“Well… maybe you’re right.” I nodded at her. “It’s still a cool idea, though.” She beamed at me maniacally. I nodded. 

“It is a cool idea. Just… risky. Plus, Erwin would never allow it.” I mused as we walked back to our seats. 

“Pah! Erwin is too up tight.”  She waved me away and just started to shovel food into her mouth. 

“He looks like he’s trying to take a shit but the shit won’t come out.” Levi agreed. I sniggered at him as I shoved some casserole in my mouth. 

“I’m glad _you_ find that funny.” 

 

I choked on my mouthful as I heard Erwin’s voice behind me. Levi just looked at him like he was completely unaffected, and Hange just laughed at me and slapped my back. 

“E-erwin!” He just looked at me with his eyebrows raised, eyes gleaming with amusement. 

“Y/N.”

“I-uh, did you… find the books you needed alright?” I said between coughs. Erwin nodded at me. 

“I did, thank you. I put them in my office.” I just nodded at him, not meeting him in the eyes as Dana looked up at him with a small smile on her face. A silence settled over us, awkward on my part, but fairly comfortably for Levi and Erwin, and Hange was oblivious. 

“I like your eyebrows, Erwin.” Dana blurted. I just watched the young girl in bemused wonderment as Erwin laughed heartily. 

“Thank you, Dana.”

“Come and eat with us!” She beamed up at the tall man and he smiled down at her. 

“Mike’s waiting for me.”

“Mike… he’s the guy that sniffs dirty socks, right?” Dana looked up at me and I turned red, thoroughly humiliated. Hange raised her eyebrows as she watched the exchange and Levi seemed to be pretty damn amused. 

“I, uh…” I chuckled nervously, “I was trying to get Dana to come out, and I made a joke about Mike and his nose.” I smiled sheepishly and turned around. Levi laughed and I glared at him, earning a snort. 

“Ah, I see.” He chuckled. “In that case, yes, Mike is the guy that sniffs dirty socks.” 

“Bring him with you.” I smiled at Dana. 

 

I loved how she was trying to get them to sit with us. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming how considerate and kind she was being, especially after what she’d gone through mere hours ago. I know it’s ridiculous… but I felt a kind of pride that she was being so strong. I mean, she wasn’t my kid, what did I have to be proud of? But, there it was, that swelling in my chest when I saw her smiling and talking. I was beginning to see more of her personality. She could be snarky, but she was also kind, and she was a strong and determined soul. I hadn’t realised but my eyes had drifted to Levi and I blushed when I realised that I was thinking that a child that Levi and I had would probably be like Dana. 

“What?” Levi was watching me and I shook my head. 

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“Thinking? That’s ambitious, isn’t it?”

“For you, maybe.” I smirked at Levi and went back to my meal. We were silent for a minute before I turned to Levi. “I just… I’m proud of her.” I nibbled at the inside of my mouth and Levi nodded. 

“She’s a tough brat, I’ll give her that.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, she is. Did you hear her in the car?” Levi nodded and I smiled. “She reminded me of you, you know.” Levi’s eyebrow raised in question. “She was so determined. She’ll make a good Hunter one day.” My smile faded at the thought. Would she really become a Hunter? Surely she had other dreams? A doctor, a lawyer, a vet… something  _ safe _ . 

“Yeah, she will.”

“I hate that. She should be a cop, instead.” Levi snorted. 

“I’d have probably been more likely to behave myself if they had people like her on their side.” I laughed at the thought of those two on opposing sides, and hoped I was never caught in the middle of an argument between the two. I hadn’t seen her angry yet, but no doubt I would one day soon. 

 

Erwin and Mike came to sit down at the table and Dana smiled broadly at them and greeted Mike warmly. Mike just watched her for a few seconds before he started sniffing the air. 

“Do you smell that?” His nose wrinkled in disgust. I sniffed at the air tentatively and Erwin just shook his head, a small, barely there smile, and I squinted at him suspiciously. Mike looked at Dana and sniffed again. “It’s… smelly.” I raised my eyebrows at him and Dana started to sniff the air. 

“I don’t smell anything.” 

“Come closer.” Mike beckoned her as he sniffed towards the middle of the table. 

“It might be the casserole…” I quipped frowning at my plate as I tried to scowl the taste away, “because it certainly stinks.” Dana stood up and leaned right into the middle of the table and sniffed harder. 

“You don’t smell that?” Dana shook her head, her eyebrows almost meeting in the middle, and she was sniffing so hard I was worried a pea might fly up her nose. “Well, how about now?” Mike asked and flung something at Dana. The girl shrieked and flew back and I whipped an arm out to make sure she didn’t fall off the bench. 

“ _ Ew!”  _ Dana laughed and peeled a sock from her face with her thumb and forefinger before dumping it back onto Mike’s side of the table. I burst out laughing at her as Levi looked on in disgust. 

“Oh, c’mon, Levi. You’re not this disgusted when your tongue is practically caressing my tonsils.” I bumped him with my shoulder. 

“Mike’s dirty socks haven’t been in your mouth, though.” 

“Well, I mean, sometimes Mike needs to gag me so that Erwin doesn’t hear us…” I laughed silently at my own joke as I sipped my drink and Erwin just shot me a disapproving look - tinted with a flicker of amusement I noted. Mike shook his head and Levi just glared at me. 

“Why does Mike need to gag you?” Dana pipped and I coughed on my drink. 

“Uh, he doesn’t. I was just joking.” 

“I don’t get it.” 

“You will when you’re older.” Dana just huffed at me with a frown. 

“You sound just like my mum. She was always saying things to daddy that I would only get when I was older.” Everyone tried to hold in their giggles as Dana went back to her meal with a look of annoyance. I just smirked and muttered into my glass. 

“Go Dana’s mum.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this. I'm looking forward to the next chapter because I have an idea for a little plot diversion and a chance to make up my own creature - I have a plan that will incorporate some plot progression and the story will start moving forward quicker from now on.
> 
> I'm not sure how many more chapters I will be writing, but I don't really see myself writing too many more in all honesty. This is kind of wrapping up nicely in the plan in my head, so... 
> 
> But, yeah. 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, and Request.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got so into this!! Everything just fell away and I was just there... It was a pretty intense session today, I must say. Probably my favourite chapter to date. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this ^_^ <3

Levi and I had gone to go and get Dana’s clothes from her home and as we walked through the door, a low thrumming in my head made me feel uneasy. It was the familiar warning I got when something Other had happened in the immediate area; the residual of the Pontianak. Levi groused about Mikasa and Eren not cleaning properly and was muttering about giving them some chores to do to make sure they knew how to clean properly from now on. There was a faint stain on the rug, a large one, and I grit my teeth and tried not to ask myself which one of them was killed there. I could see a faint trail of blood from the kitchen and decided that I would move on. Normally these things were all part of the job and didn’t effect me as much; I could usually get on with my work reasonably unhindered by my emotions. But then, usually, I wasn’t looking at the remains of the parents of the little girl I was caring for. I walked upstairs, leaving Levi to his scheming, and looked for Dana’s room. Instead, I found her parents' room.

 

I could see the crib from where I stood in the doorway. There was a little blanket in there with a little bear in the corner. My eyes started to sting and I blinked rapidly, trying in vain to stop the tears. I crept closer to the crib, gliding a hand over the smooth wood and I could almost _feel_ their excitement for having another child. My eyes rested on the little bear and I found myself picking it up and holding it to my chest. Stroking the crib one last time, I decided to say a quick prayer for the couple and their unborn child, asking for quick passage to the afterlife, and to ease the suffering of Dana. As I was leaving I noticed a pair of handcuffs on the headboard of the bed. Usually I’d have smirked, or made a comment, but today it just felt too… sad. It was just another detail that I knew about the people who were brutally murdered. One more detail into knowing Dana’s parents. One more detail that killed me. A detail that reminded me that my time was rapidly coming, too.

 

I closed the door back up and continued down the hall to Dana’s room. It was a sweet room. A small instantly sprung as I saw all of her plush toys, and I noticed her books - all fairytales and adventures. Her drawings littered the walls; family, friends, and a few stories of a warrior princess, a magical girl who saved animals with her powers, and chased off the prince with an axe. I laughed at the images, the drawing of the girl looking suspiciously like Dana, and picked up a few from the desk. My face slowly turned grave when I saw that she’d been drawing other things. Her parents may have just thought they were the product of her imagination - which seemed to be pretty good by the looks of that story - but I knew better. How long had she been seeing things?

 

She had drawn various creatures; Brownies, Forest Spirits, Kappas, Shadow People, members of the Unseelie… She’d seen some things, that was for sure. The house was in the middle of the country so it was no wonder she had seen these particular things, and I didn’t know whether to be happy she hadn’t seen some of the things that dwell in the cities, or rush right out and hunt down the little Unseelie prick. The Unseelie were nasty, that was for sure, and if she had seen one of them, then she’d had to have had a fright. Or a scar. My jaw clenched and I dropped the pictures and started to look for a bag.

 

I shoved her clothes into it, grabbing as much as I could. Levi had wandered up and was watching me.

“Are you going to stand there, or are you going to help?”

“Help you make a mess? No.” I glared at him and then continued.

“What crawled in your arse and died?” I didn’t answer right away. I packed a few more things before I abruptly stood up straight and stared at the ceiling.

“She’s been seeing all kinds of things.” I gestured to the desk, and the pictures on it, and looked at Levi. He was just waiting for me to continue. I sighed in frustration and sat on the bed. “I don’t know. I just… She’s been _seeing_ things. Like I did.” I wiped a hand over my face. “She’s been alone this whole time. Who knows how much she’s seen and hidden.” Levi had gone to the desk as I was talking and was leafing through the pictures.

“Her parents probably knew.”

“Yeah? Well they probably told her it was all in her mind.” I spat bitterly.

“Don’t make comparisons between your parents and hers.” His face was almost chiding, but his voice was more gentle than usual.

“Why not?” I looked at him blankly. “You know what Regulars are like. They refuse to believe in any of this. They’re small minded and cruel.” Levi crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a cool look.

“You sound like me.”

“Yeah, well. You’re right.” I looked at him and laughed humorlessly. “They were all like it. My parents, the doctors, the therapists, my teachers…”

“Your grandmother wasn’t.” I stared at him and swallowed.

“She was different.”

“How?”

“I don’t know! She just was! She was kind, and gentle, and loving, and she _believed_ me.” Levi just watched me from across the room as I grappled with words. “She was the exception, not the rule.”

 

I knew I sounded like some kind of prejudiced idiot, and I knew I was making sweeping generalisations, but I couldn’t help it. I was angry. I was hurt. I was… lashing out.

“Your grandmother was coloured by her beliefs. She was an old pagan,  _t_ _hat’s_ why she believed you. Your parents were coloured by their beliefs. The doctors and therapists are scientists. They’re coloured by their beliefs.” My bottom lip trembled. He was right, of course. “I’m an arsehole and an unpleasant person who hates the vast majority of people. You’re not. So don’t start thinking like me.” I let out a strangled laugh.

“I just…” I couldn’t find the words. I shook my head, my mouth open as I waited for the words to come to me. “I was so alone.” My voice was a whisper. Levi watched me carefully from where he stood. “I was taken away from the one person who believed me and _paraded_ before all these people who thought I was mad, or who thought I was the Devil. I _knew_ I wasn’t mad but... I was starting to believe it near the end.”

 

I’d never confessed how I’d started to believe that maybe I was mad. I’d been in the hospital for two years by then, and I was not getting better. I had looked at all the kids around me and it occurred to me that maybe I _was_ like them. I must have looked like them; muttering about fantastical creatures, seeing things like a few of the other kids there. Maybe I _did_ belong there. I looked up at Levi and his eyes were blazing at me so much so that I had to look away.

“You’re not mad, and they’re all ignorant fucks for making you think that about yourself. But don’t let them turn you into me. Keep being you. Keep being kind and accepting; we need more people like you, Y/N. That’s why I fell in love with you. You’re unshakeable. You’re too damn optimistic sometimes, but I’ll be fucked if you aren’t usually bang on the mark. God knows why a cynic like me has taken your interest, but I’m too selfish to give a shit.” Levi crossed the room and yanked me up, kissing me roughly. “Don’t ever let me catch you thinking shit like that again.” He growled at me.

“Why? Will you punish me?” I asked, a spark of my mischief reappearing.

“You bet your arse I will.”  I pushed him away playfully and continued to pack Dana’s things before heading out to the car.

 

Now, I know the rules. But, as we’ve established, I’m not exactly the best at following them. When you hear a noise, you shouldn’t go and follow it. When you see something questionable, you shouldn’t investigate. If you feel uneasy, like a prickling of energy around you, a signal that something Other is near; if your mind whispers to you that you are being watched, hunted, then you should run. But, I ignored all three of these rules. And, I ignored the rule to always - _always_ \- have backup, and always let someone know where you are at all times.

 

I heard a whispering coming from the edge of the forest and I looked to see a face pull back and hide. My mind told me that it was Other, that is was bad news and I should go, but I ran towards it after flinging Dana’s bags in the car and grabbing a knife from the side compartment. It had occurred to me that this was most likely a trap, and wouldn’t end well at all, but I kept running through the forest, hot on the heels of the creature. From what I could see it was a member of the Unseelie Court.

 

The Unseelie Court were the bad tempered, more malicious fae, unlike their counterparts in the Seelie Court. Now, don’t just assume that the Seelie Court is all Disney and crap. It’s not. They’re just more benevolent than the Unseelie. The Unseelie seem to have more of a hatred of humans than most Fae.

 

A scream ripped through my throat as the ground beneath my feet gave way and I plunged down, down, down. Another scream pulled free as the stitches in my right side were ripped open by something. I’d hit my head as I fell and the dull ache bled through my skull like a paper towel absorbing spilt water. I groaned and sat up, taking a look around me. The bastards had set a trap alright, leading me blindly through the forest and I’d blundered right into the pit they’d dug for me. This wasn’t the usual Unseelie trap, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were expanding their horizons. Hey, humans weren’t the only ones that moved with the times. I took a look at the hand covering my side and it was dripping with blood. I re-covered my side, pressing firmly, and looked around for a way out.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Hey! You! Get me out of here, you fucker!” I was met with silence.

 

Every time I grabbed a root it snapped, and the walls of the hole were too fragile to carve footholds that would hold my weight. I sat down and rested my head on the wall and tried to keep my sanity. I was a stupid, stupid fuck. I banged my head on the wall a few times as I told myself just what I thought of my current situation.

“Well, well, well. It looks like we have a nice little Seer, today.” I looked up and scowled at the figure.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

“Us? My dear, you were the one who followed us.” A feral smile graced his face and I scowled harder.

“I think you’ll find you were the one to lure me here. And I don’t get intimidated easily, so you’ll have to try harder than _that_.”

“I know _She_ scares you.” I clambered to my feet and stared at my captor. I knew _exactly_ who he was talking about. 

“What do you know about Her?” I demanded. “Tell me and I might consider letting you live.”

“Somehow I don’t think you’re in the position to make demands. Or promises.”

“Fine, then. I won’t promise not to kill you then.” I smiled up at him sarcastically and then frowned. “What do you want?”

 

He didn’t answer me. Instead he turned away and barked something in a weird language. It sounded familiar, and the sound chilled me to my core. _Why does that sound familiar?_ A group of other creatures crowded around and lowered down a board pulled by ropes. I stepped on and the pulled me up, grabbing at my hands and I growled at them.

“Hey! Cut it the hell out you little fuckers! I’m injured.” They ignored me and pulled my arms behind my back and bound them with rope.

 

I was marched further into the forest, and we stopped in a clearing. There was a tree stump that glittered and shimmered, the threads of a glamour wrapping around it, each strand of magic weaving intricately through each other. I found the weak thread and unpicked it, and the threads snapped, unravelling to reveal a throne. It was made from a tree stump, but had roots growing around it. The roots curved over the seat and formed a back before branching off, and twisting and curling in intricate loops. It certainly looked grand.

 

One of them felt the bulge in my pocket and fished out my knife before yelping in pain and dropping it on the floor.

“Silver!” It shrieked. I smirked at them.

“Damn straight, bitches.” I was swiftly brought to my knees by a punch to my bleeding side. One of them grabbed me by the face, its claws digging into the skin on my face.

“Enough!” A voice called. I looked up at the creature and tried to remain impassive.

 

It was a horrendous looking creature. It looked like it had been unearthed from an Egyptian tomb, but with marginally more flesh. It’s teeth were pointed, and it was gaunt. Like, hasn’t eaten anything for an eternity gaunt. The scraps of cloth it wore were swamping it, and it’s eyes were so deep set they almost vanished. The colour of the flesh around its eyes and mouth was a dark crimson - almost black. Its arms and legs were long, with large hands and feet. Its fingers were long and very fragile looking, but judging by the grip of the one that had my face, they were anything but fragile.

 

The leader of them stepped forward and poked a finger to my side, the claw gouging in deeper and eliciting a yelp, and it sucked the blood from its finger. My breathing had become harsh, and my instincts were roaring at me. _Other, Other, Other. Danger, danger, danger._ It was like a litany in my mind that I couldn’t drown out.

“Fuck. You.” I ground out as its eyes met mine, a snarl on my face. He grabbed my face like the one before.

“You’re in a very vulnerable position, Seer. Manners will serve you better.” He released my face with a shove and I toppled over, nearly losing my balance.

“Yeah? Well you’re rapidly earning a position on my shit list. An unenviable position, really.” A dark chuckle reverberated through him, his teeth revealed in an open mouth smile, and a chill flooded my body, goosebumps covering every inch of my body. That was not a good thing.

“You have spirit, I see.”

“I’m surprised you can see anything out of those.” I thrust my chin in his direction.

“I will warn you again: Manners, Seer, will serve you immeasurably. I have no tolerance for impudence in my Court.”

“This is a Court? Oh, well, I’m not a Courtier, so I guess I'll just pop off.” 

“You’re in my Court right now, yes. And I am becoming rapidly put out. Now. _Be quiet_ .” I glared at him but said nothing. His tone had told me that he’d reached his limit, and the thrumming in my head was at the point where I knew I was one smart comment away from death. _This will be a challenge_ , I thought. I’d always had a problem keeping my mouth shut.

 

He took a seat in his throne, lounging in a rather unbecoming way and my top lip curled in distaste. _Not very kingly, I must say._ He just stared at me for a while. The silence was eerie. There were no birds, no wind, to rustle of trees… nothing but that damned voice in my head, and my own breathing.

“Look, I just want to know what you want. You lured me in here for a reason. What is it?”

“I do not want anything.” He told me simply and I looked at him in exasperation.

“Then what the fu-”

“But you want something from me.” I frowned in confusion. “You want the information that I have.”

 

I could feel a tickling on my side and glanced down. Blood was trickling out of my side and it had run down my leg. The twigs and stones on the ground had cut into my knees and I cursed my decision to wear shorts today. My legs were stinging from my fall earlier and I knew that I’d have a fair few cuts and bruises when I got back. If I got back.

“What information do you have?”

“What would you give me in exchange?”

“Well it depends on what the information is about, and how useful it is.”

“It’s about Her. And what She wants.” I was silent for a moment, unsure if I should speak, or breathe.

“What do you want?” I breathed.

“Do you know what we are?” I shook my head. “We are part of the Fae. Neither Seelie nor Unseelie. We hold no allegiance, and we do as we please. Very rarely do we associate with humans. You are a crude species, and you have long since become ignorant of all that exists. You know that more than most, Y/N.” My eyes widened.

“How do you know my name?”

“Blood can tell me much about a person.” He stood and prowled closer to me. “What a childhood you had.” He murmured to me. “You were shut away, caged like an animal, and fed all kinds of things. They even intended on cutting you open and prying apart your brain.”

 

He caressed my face and I clenched my jaw, gritting my teeth to keep myself in check. His claws were pressing against my skin, almost as if he was reminding me how vulnerable I was, as his hands traced my cheek and my neck, curving around my throat. His voice was quiet, the cold, emotionlessness of it made me wary, and the sound scraped the inside of my head. _Run, run, run. Other, Other, Other._

“But then you deceived them all and escaped, and into the arms of your lover.” His breath was cool, and was not pleasant. Nor was the smell. “You live with joy, even amongst all the horrors you see. Hideous creatures, mauled and bloodied and disembowelled remains, death of beloved comrades… but yet you smile. You still forge bonds, you still laugh, you still love. You are a positive influence on those around you.”

“What do you want?” My voice was shaking but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I didn’t know what he was, what he wanted, or what was going to happen. I was at a severe disadvantage here.

“We are creatures of… contradiction. We are grotesque, ill tempered, harsh, and uncaring. However, we have what you would call a passion for music, poetry, dance, and beautiful words. We hunger for what we are not. If you can sing me a song that means a lot to you, I will tell you what I know.”

“You want me to sing to you?” I blurted. He just nodded at me calmly. “I can’t sing.”

“Of course you can.” I shook my head.

“No, I really can’t. It sounds awful.”

“We want a beautiful song, we care not for the talent which the vessel holds.”

“Vessel?” I bristled at them and scowled.

“Sing. And none of that music that I hear pumped through those vehicles of yours. We require something meaningful.”

 

I thought for a moment, scanning the darkest parts of my mind for a song that I could sing. And then it hit me.

“I, uh, have a song my grandmother would sing to me.”

“Ah, yes, sing that. I know your grandmother was dear to you. It must be special, then.” I nodded at him and took a breath as I started to sing the song.

 

 _Upon one summer’s morning, I carefully did stray,_  
_Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,_  
_Conversing with a young lass, who seem’d to be in pain,_ _  
_ Saying, "William, when you go I fear, you’ll ne’er return again".

 

My grandmother would sing ‘My Jolly Sailor Bold’ to me all the time. When I couldn’t sleep, when I was sick, when I was scared, and I loved it so much I’d often ask for her to just sing it to me during the day. I used to tell her that I wanted to find my own Jolly Sailor Bold, and so she took me to the sea once for a holiday. We built sand castles, walked around the small town, she would tell me local stories, and we would walk along the beach and just play. It was one of my favourite memories. I hadn’t noticed that a tear had fallen as I was singing until I finished.

 

Everyone was silently watching me, entranced by my words, and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit happy. I’m not a singer at all - I’m tone deaf - but I’d still held them in the palm of my hand. After a while he spoke again.

“She is a God that was locked away. She seeks vengeance for the deaths of her beloved sisters. She tried to hunt down the members of the family that were responsible, and now she is free she has begun her hunt once more.”

“Who is she? What’s her name.” He shook his head at me.

“I will not tell you.”

“I sung to you in exchange for information! If you know it, I demand you tell me her name!”

“You do not make demands from me. Not since we have something else you want!” I stood up, ignoring the pain in my side, and stared up at him, rage filling me.

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“Because it is not worth my life. She will kill us for revealing her identity to a Seer who hunts her to seek her own revenge.”

“Not if I kill her first.” My voice was low, dangerous and full of promise. “You tell me her name, and I swear to you, I will kill her before she has a chance to hurt you. Or your people.”

“You cannot promise me that. She would know. I’m already toeing the line by telling you this much.” He watched me, a vicious smile forming. “Would you like to know what else we have of yours?”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me anyway.” I scowled at him as he clicked his fingers.

 

A small group of his minions shoved in a figure and my eyes widened in shock. I whirled on the creature in front of me and growled at him. He only smiled at me and walked back to his throne.

“If you know what is good for you, you’ll let him go.”

“I’ve told you before, do not threaten me. You are in no position to do so.”

“Tch. Get your filthy hands off of me. I might get dirty.”

“ _I’m_ not threatening you. In fact, I’m warning you. He’s the one that will slaughter you.” Levi was looking disgusted at the scene in front of him, and at the sound of my voice his eyes travelled to me. His eyes were on my side, and I knew he could see the blood that had turned one half of my leg red. His face looked colder than I’d seen for a while.

“What do I have to do to get you to free us? Both of us.”

“Don’t make deals with him, brat.” I ignored him as the creature smiled at me.

“One more song.” I nodded at him and thought again. As my eyes drifted to Levi, a song popped into my head.

 

_Drink to me only with thine eyes,_

_And I will pledge with mine;_

_Or leave a kiss within the cup_

_And I'll not ask for wine._

_The thirst that from the soul doth rise_

_Doth ask a drink divine;_

_But might I of Jove's nectar sup,_

_I would not change for thine._

 

It was one of the songs my mother used to listen to. She had a particular love of folk songs, and classical music. This was a poem that had been turned into a song, and I’d always loved it. Levi just watched me as I bumbled my way tunelessly through the song, and when I was finished I looked back at our captor.

“Now. Let us go.” He nodded to one of his minions and they cut Levi’s bindings off and shoved him towards me. I felt the bindings on my arms fall away and I instantly clutched my side. Levi was by my side and checking my injury in an instant.

“Before we go. What is your name? What are you?”

“My name is Garip. We like to be known as Acolytes of Pan.” I nodded at him and turned to leave. “Keep walking straight and you will come to where we found you.”

 

I offered him a tight smile of thanks and bowed my head slightly, before walking to my knife. Levi scooped it up for me and we left.

“Next time you run off, brat, tell me first.” He growled.

“Sorry. I just saw one of them, and I ran.”

“Idiot. When are you going to learn?” I staggered through the forest, not realising how weak I’d gotten. I must have lost a lot of blood. Levi scooped me up and carried me the rest of the way to the car as I rested my head on his chest.

“We need to go to Petra.”

“No, we’re going back to the Compound and going to Hange. You’re getting your wound looked at, and then you’re going to rest.”

“No, we _need_ to go to Petra. I have to tell them about Her.” Levi looked down at me.

“No one is there for the book. They’re all at the Compound.”

“What? Why?”

“Erwin went to see a contact and took the book with him. Everyone is resting up. Arlert is with the kids helping with homework, Hange is with Dana doing some experiment, and Erwin will be back later. You can tell them all later.”

“Fine.” I looked at him for a moment, just watching him.

“You got something to say?”

“Just enjoying the view.” Levi grunted at me and I smiled. “How did they get you?”

“Because I was looking for your stupid arse.” He shot me a glare and gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry. I didn’t think.”

“You never do. It’s a wonder you can function most days.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Fuck you.” I could feel my eyes growing heavy and I was starting to slur sleepily.

“Hey! Don’t go to sleep!” Levi shook me and I hissed as a pain shot through my side.

“Stop! That hurts, you fuck!” I glared at him.

“We’re nearly at the car. Hold out until we get there, and then I can sew you up.”

“You make me sound like a pair of pants. I’ll have you know I am a lady.” Mock indigence laced every word. Levi snorted.

“You’re a pain.”

“I’m _your_ pain.” Levi looked down at me and nodded, a small smile on his face.

“Yeah. _My_ pain.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have a bit more info on out mysterious Goddess!! :D  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, because I had a ton of fun writing this! 
> 
> The songs here are My Jolly Sailor Bold, and Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes (I'd recommend the version sung by Laura Wright, because she has the voice of an angel).
> 
> Comment, Kudos, and Request <3


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another kind of filler type chapter, but with less action based plot progression. Our team is getting closer to figuring out who exactly our Goddess is, and I'm looking forward to revealing who she is in future chapters. :D 
> 
> If you like this, drop me a comment and let me know, and if you don't know, I have a DA account under the same name as AO3, so you can check that out because I'll be adding more stories on there that I can't post here, and I also post some status update to let you know of any future fics in this ol' noggin' o' mine. 
> 
> Enjoy!! ^_^

 “Go and get Levi, then!” Zach fired at me, a smirk on his face, and I just scowled at him. He’d been asking me why we can’t just kill everything that isn’t human, which had earned some agreement, and some abject horror. I’d scoffed at him and told him that we weren’t in the business of committing genocide. He’d been arguing his case for the past ten minutes when I’d snapped.

“Sit down, shut up, and listen!” I knew I could get Levi, even just to glare at them from the doorway, but I knew that some kids would piss themselves with fright and I didn’t want to be responsible for that level of trauma.

“Zach, just do as she says. She’s a Seer, so she-”

“So what? She has a power, big deal.”

“Oh? So, you don’t care about that Shadow Person that’s in the corner right now, then?” I commented. He turned pale and everybody turned to look at the corner, all wondering if there really was something.

“You’re lying.” He didn’t sound too convinced of that. I smirked at him, folding my arms over my chest and smiling at him. I was currently lounging in my seat, legs up on the desk, sprawled in a very unprofessional manner. Good job I wasn’t an _actual_ teacher.

“Am I now?”

“Yes. You just want to scare me.” I huffed a laugh.

“Well, I guess you’ll never know for sure.”

 

The truth was, there was a Shadow Person in that corner. I had no idea how it’d gotten in here, but I made a note to get a few people together to check on the wards and protection spells. That was until a thought crossed my mind and I scowled at them all.

“Okay, who thought it would be a good idea to summon a spirit?” Everyone stared at me blankly and I just raised my eyebrows at them expectantly.

“No one.” A voice called out. It was a girl called Jessica. I nodded my head at her in sarcastic agreement.

“Oh, no, of course not. That’s why there is a goddamned spirit person in my classroom!”

 

To say I was angry would be an understatement. I know that I do dangerous crap, but I never bring it into my home; to the home filled with _kids_.

“You know what, Kirsty?” I looked at a short haired girl sat nearest the corner, who the Shadow Person had gotten uncomfortably close to, and her eyes widened at me. “Can you come and move down here?” She nodded and all but ran to the front. I stood up and nudged my seat towards her. “You know, I understand that out of all of the kids here in the Compound, it’s going to be _you_ lot that do dangerous shit. I know you will - the younger ones are still too terrified that something lives under their beds. But you’re all at that age where you’re finally learning how to fight these things and so you have a reckless edge.” I’d walked to the front of the desk and leaned back as I stared everyone down. “But doing it _here?_ Where there are children? Unacceptable.”

 

Everyone looked down guiltily and I had a suspicion that this had been a group activity. Either they’d all taken part, or the ones that didn’t take part knew about it and didn’t offer any resistance. I shook my head at them.

“Do you have any idea how goddamned _dangerous_ this is? What if it had’ve been something more dangerous. Judging by the size of this,” I looked at the Shadow Person and grimaced, “it’s a low level demonic spirit. A Poltergeist at the very least.” Eyes widened and I just stared them down for a moment, anger written all over my face.

 

I went behind the desk and opened the bottom drawer, Kirsty’s gasp alerting the room to what I was doing. Heads shot up to watch me, fear clearly pooling from them. Everybody knew that the locked draw in each classroom was filled with emergency weapons that only an approved adult had the key to. Erwin, Mike, Hange, Levi, Christa, Ymir, Armin, and I had keys. Even Zach was starting to look like he believed me now. I looked at Kirsty, the drawer open, and nodded to it.

“What would you use?” As serious as the situation was, it was still a teachable moment. I just nodded at the clearly terrified girl and she scooted closer to the drawer, peering down into it.

“Uh… I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.” She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. I glanced at the Shadow Person before crouching to her. “Hey, don’t worry.” I said quietly. “You’re an excellent student. You’ve answered this question countless times before. Just because this is an unexpected practical lesson, it doesn’t mean that it’s any different.” I soothed her. I squeezed her shoulder gently. “And don’t worry, it’s me that will get rid of it, so I’m not expecting you to fight it.” I winked at her with a smile, and she just nodded at me.

 

She pulled out a jar of blessed water, a silver knife, and then went to the bookcase behind me and pulled out a book of banishing spells. I just watched her carefully, not giving anything away.

“Why?”

“The water to test its strength and to attempt a peaceful solution, the knife for your own protection in case it attacks, and the book so you can banish it.”

“Are you sure?” She just nodded at me and I smiled broadly at her. “A+. Well done.”

 

I snatched up the items and walked to the spirit. The class turned to watch me, eyes wide, faces pale, and breathing increased. I dropped the book onto one of the desks and the poor kid, Dylan, flinched at the impact.

“What do you want?” The Shadow Person only looked at me, the ominous silence stretching, and my feeling of unease growing. “What do you want?” I demanded. I flicked out some of the water and it screeched, the desk Kirsty was say at being shunted into the back of Dylan’s chair. The class surged to its feet and ran to the bottom of the class. I felt a pang of pride that they hadn’t ran away screaming. They’d stayed in the class, at least.

 

Well… most of them had. I heard the door open and shook my head. Someone had noped right on out of there. As the Shadow Person moved for me I swept the blade out and it swiftly moved back. I opened the book and flipped to the banishing incantation as it surged forwards and shoved it out of my hands. I closed my eyes and sighed loudly.

“Really, dude? Really?” I stared at it as I shook my head. “Could one of you pass me the book?” I called back to the kids. I could hear muttering as the kids decided who was going to pass me the book and I frowned at them. “Seriously? You’re brave enough to summon this damn thing, but when it comes to deal with it, you just pass it on to some other poor bastard?”

“Y/N!”

 

Armin’s voice cut through the silence and I could hear footsteps as he ran to me. I glanced at him and he was staring at the Shadow Person in muted fear. I smiled at Armin and he swallowed.

“What do you need?”

“If you could grab the book it just punted across the room that would be grand. It has a banishing incantation in it.” Armin nodded at me and ran to pick up the book as I continued to fend off the attacks; the attacks that were becoming more frequent and more vicious as it became desperate. Armin’s voice read out the incantation, his voice strong and clear, and the Shadow thrashed and screeched. I flinched at the sound, and I imagine Armin did, too.

 

When it was gone, banished to the Other Side or wherever it was they went, I sat on the nearest desk to me. I looked out over to my class and scowled.

“Remind me to tear each of you a new arsehole.”

“Are you okay?” Armin squeaked.

“Well, aside from the fact that my class is made up of utter _idiots_ , everything is copacetic.” Armin looked at me in confusion and I just looked at the class. “Class is over for today, but you have a make up class tomorrow. It starts with a lecture on the dangers of Ouija boards.”

“We didn’t use a Ouija board, we just-”

“HA!” I pointed at Zach. I knew his need to get the last word would catch him out. He hissed, realising that he’d as good as confessed, and everyone shot daggers at him. Someone even shoved him.

“Nice going, you cock!” Dylan spat. I swear, those two were as bad as Jean and Eren.

“Will you stop fucking swearing!” I snapped at them. “I’m too tired to deal with you lot today, but rest assured, I will be questioning you about what exactly you did, and then give you a lecture on why you _shouldn’t_ do anything like that again. And hey, I may even assign an essay.” Everyone groaned at me. “Now, go away and prepare for a verbal arse kicking tomorrow at seven sharp. Anyone _not_ in this classroom at that time will be retrieved by Levi. Who may or may not be present at out little lesson tomorrow.” Everyone filed out, silently, and shooting glares at Zach.

 

When they had left I started to giggle at them. They were all still as frightened as they used to be when they were younger, but their bravery was starting to take hold. Another year or so and it’ll just be reigning in their stupidity. Then they’ll be ready to go out and shadow a Seer on missions. Or another Hunter. None of this group had Seer abilities - hence why none of them saw the Shadow Person - but I knew a few kids in the other age groups were. June, and a boy called Adam had the abilities, but that was about it. And Dana.

“Y/N, you wanted to speak to everyone about the book, right?” I nodded at him.

“Yeah. I found out some information.”

“Erwin is with Hange at the moment, and Levi’s on his way down there now. I was on my way to get you when Kirsty found me.” So that’s who left.

“Okay, give me a hand, then. My side is starting to hurt.”

 

***

 

“You discovered a new species?” Hange was in my face, eyes wild with excitement, and kind of scaring me. I had passed out in the car yesterday and spent the rest of the day sleeping it off, so i hadn't had the chance to debrief everyone about what I knew. And then this morning I had the class to handle and prepare for, so it was now, gone midday that I was  _finally_ telling them about it. 

“I guess…?”

“What was it like? Tell me every detail.” Armin and Erwin were watching on in both amusement and interest, and Levi just looked bored as usual.

“Um, it was lanky, skinny - like it hadn’t even so much as entertained the idea of food - big hands and feet, really deep set eyes, and dark patches around the eyes and mouth… You know what? I’ll just draw it for you. Give me a few days. I’m useless anyway with this injury, so I may as well make a record of the Acolytes.”

“Great! I’ll get a visual! Do you think you could take me to them? I may be able to bring one back and interview it!”

“No, Hange. You’re not bringing anything back here that is non-human.” Erwin warned her.

“But Erwin! It would be for research purposes! It could be important for-”

“No.”

 

Erwin’s stern tone told Hange that she wasn’t going to win this argument, regardless of the amusement on his face. Hange just turned to me and clutched my hand, eyes still manic.

“What else?”

“His breath was cold. And it smelled horrible. They-”

“What did it smell like?” I paused and blinked at her in disbelief.

“Excuse me?”

“Its breath! What was it like?”

“Rotten.”

“But like a rotting flesh smell, or a rotting vegetation smell?”

“Who cares?” Levi asked her.

“I do! It can tell you what its diet consists of!”

“Look, it just smelled like it hadn’t ever used a toothbrush, but judging by the pointed teeth, and the way it gouged my side and lapped up the blood… I’d say it’s carnivorous.”

“Fascinating!”

“Yes. I was maimed, but that doesn’t matter, as long as it’s for science!” I proclaimed in mock enthusiasm. If Hange was offended she didn’t show it. Erwin chuckled at me and shook his head, and Armin looked at me wide eyed.

“Let’s just get on with it, okay? I want to know what information Y/N has so we can hurry up and kill this piece of shit.” Levi drawled. I nodded.

“Okay, well, he didn’t tell me a great deal. He just told me that she was hunting the family of the people that killed her sisters, then she was locked away. Now that she’s awakened - courtesy of yours truly" I bowed my head mockingly, "-she’s back to hunting down the family line.”

 

Erwin looked like he was thinking about this hard, eyebrows drawn together, arms crossed, and Armin was in a similar pose. I sniggered at them; they looked like Little ‘n’ Large.

“But Garip sounded scared of her. Like, his telling me about her was pushing it, and telling a Seer who is hunting her who the hell she actually is would have been signing his own death warrant. So, I assume that she has some God-like power to know everything that’s happening at any time. Which sucks for us since if we plan something, she’ll know.”

“Not if we have the wards.” Erwin countered. Levi shook his head.

“She trashed Y/N’s door and just walked in like it was nothing. They didn’t work.”

“Hange, maybe you could figure something out?” Erwin looked at Hange and she nodded at him emphatically.

“Just as soon as I know who she is, I can get straight to work! In the meantime I’ll do some experiments.” The glint in her eyes when she said 'experiments' was alarming.

“You said that Garip mentioned that telling a ‘Seer who is hunting her’ would be like signing his own death warrant.” Erwin mused. I nodded at him and Armin spoke up.

“So that means you're a threat to her.”

“She did warn you to stop hunting her.” I looked at Levi and nodded.

“Yeah, but that was more of an inconvenience thing, I think.”

“Being an inconvenience just means that you are a threat to some extent.” I glanced at Erwin and thought about it. Maybe he had a point. Levi seemed to agree, and so did Armin. I didn't think Hange was present in the room at the moment judging by the glazed look in her eyes.

 

Erwin crossed to the door and grabbed a bag from the hook as he spoke. Inside the bag was the Book, and he smiled at us all.

“My old acquaintance at the University is researching the language as we speak, and I can do some digging about any Goddesses whose two sisters were murdered.” He placed the book on the desk and sat back in his seat.

“I’ll head down to the Library and grab some books.” We bid Armin goodbye and Hange pounced on me.

“May I go to your apartment and take a look at your books? There may be something there that I can use.” I nodded at her.

“Sure, knock yourself out.”

“Literally.” Levi added. Hange just thanked me and bounced off.

“Well, I know of someone I can ask for any scraps of information.” Erwin and Levi looked at me, the former raising his eyebrows. “This barman in the Underground. He’s… knowledgeable about these kinds of things.”

“Tell me his name and I’ll go.” I shook my head and looked at Levi.

“No, you’re too brash. He’s a… volatile character. You need to have a good relationship with him to get anything from him, and you don’t.” Levi blinked at me calmly.

“And you do?” I slid off the side I was sat on and nodded with a smug smile.

“Yes, I do.” I flounced off to go and get changed. If I was going to the Underground, I was going to have to prepare.

 

***

Levi was pissing me off.

 

He’d be grousing at me about _everything_. Where we were going, why I was going, and why I was even a well known patron of the bar.

“And why the fuck are you wearing those shoes? If you need to run you’ll break your neck.” I glared at him.

“I’ll have you know, this outfit is carefully constructed.”

“A carefully constructed deathtrap.”

“Okay, fine. You walk in there wearing _that_ ,” I gestured to his usual crap that he wore, complete with very obvious weaponry, “they’ll be wary of you. They won’t trust you, and they’ll be openly hostile. But me,” I gestured to my clothing with a sweet smile, “will make them think I’m not there for a fight.” He raised an eyebrow at me as if expecting me to explain. I sighed at him. “What girl wears heels on a hunt, or a place she is expecting a fight?”

“Catwoman.” He deadpanned, flicking the ash of his cigarette on the ground.

“Well, other than her, no one else does. So, the heels make them think I’m just there for a good time.” Levi frowned at my word choice, blowing smoke from his mouth and throwing the butt on the ground. “My clothes are tight and so create the illusion that I’m not carrying any weapons.”

“You’re not.” He growled at me. I smirked at him.

“Oh, really?”

 

I was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that were ripped - clearly no weapons there - and I had a tank top that was rather baggy and it was quite revealing. I had on a cute bralette that kept me covered up, and was designed to be seen under a sheer top, or an open tank like the one I was wearing; the straps crossed at the back, and a few little straps crossed the swell of my breasts, the lace and crocheted details were really pretty and I couldn't help but feel cute as hell. But, hidden away amongst my cleavage was a silver knife, and a vial of blessed water. Of course, I had the tattoo on my right ring finger that had iron in the ink - meaning that a punch could hurt all things that were repelled by iron - and my jewellery was all made from silver (which would be expected from a Seer like me). I pulled out the knife and the water and just smiled at him smugly.

“Oh, and these shoes slip off fairly easy so I can run barefoot if I need to. And if I chuck them, they’re heavy." They heels were made from thick rubber, and would definitely hurt if it hit someone in the face, Other or not. "Plus, there are a few blades hidden in the leather of my shoe.” I added nonchalantly. 

 

Before we stopped at the Underground I wanted to stop off at my favourite cafe. It seemed like any ordinary type, but it was owned and run by a group of Fae. They were also helped by witches who knew how to handle the magic - mostly kitchen witches, but a few street wizards worked here, too. They did get a lot of Regulars, but more or less every Hunter and Seer came here. It was an unspoken agreement between all of us that didn't have a grudge against all Others, that it was a protected place. All Others who worked here, sought sanctuary here, or just hung out here were not to be harmed. The one time a Hunter tried to hurt any, we all paid him a visit. I don't think he's been in this part of the city since.  

"Hey, Kath. Can I have a Blueberry Muffin with Peace, and a Rose Tea with an extra shot of Relief. Oh, and to go, please." Peace was my favourite mood to have with a Blueberry Muffin - the Blueberry jam in the middle was a dream, and the peace made the whole Muffin experience more or less orgasmic. The Rose Tea was my favourite, and the Relief was for the pain in my side. If I was going to survive today, I'd need to keep my attention on the Others in the club, and not be distracted by pain. I looked at Levi. "Want anything?" 

"Yeah, give me a Black Tea with Stamina, please. I'm gonna need it today." He gave me a side glance and Kath chuckled. 

"Sure thing, guys. Go take a seat and I'll get Lou to bring it over." I gasped at her and Kath shook her hair with a broad smile.

"Oh, is Lou back? How is he? How did it all go?" I asked excitedly. 

"Don't worry, I knew you'd want to know, which is why I'm sending him over. Go and take a seat." I skipped merrily to an empty table and put my feet up on a chair. 

"Get your feet off the damn chair, you animal." 

"Oh, take the pole out of your arse. You're far too uptight today. You need to take a bite of my Muffin, at least. Otherwise we may end up in a fight because of you." Levi just levelled a cool stare at me. 

"Does it matter?" 

"Of course it does. I've built up connections down there. All the fae, the elves, the-" I stopped myself, but Levi's eyes narrowed and I knew I was screwed. 

"What?" 

"Okay, well, when I tell you... don't go mad, okay?" I held my hands up, palms facing him, my voice wary. His eyebrow quirked slightly. "Jonah is a Demon." 

"A demon." His voice was ice. I swallowed hard and nodded. 

"He's a barman, and he hears a lot of titbits working down there amongst the Others; he hears gossip from all over. If anyone has heard about Her, he has. But, because he's a demon, he won't take too kindly to you being... you." 

"Well, I'm not waiting outside like you want me to." 

"Well then just stand there quietly. Be the muscle and not the sarcastic shit you are. Be strong and silent. The intimidation may not be seen as deliberate if it looks like you're my overly protective boyfriend." I grinned at him, trying to alleviate the tension. 

"Whatever. But as soon as things even  _hint_ at going south, I'm stepping in and we're going. We won't have our sense down there since it'll be drowned out amongst them all." He looked around at the cafe and frowned. "Like in here." 

"Hey. At least we know what Regulars feel like, now." 

"Well, thank god for that. I can die happy now." His monotone voice and bland face made me snigger at him.

 

A takeout cup was set down in front of me along with a muffin. Levi's tea was set down and I looked up, gasping excitedly when I saw the lopsided grin of the brunet. His golden eyes were shining at me and I jumped up and flung my arms around him. 

"Lou!" I squealed. He laughed and lifted me up and spun around a few times. "How did it go?" I asked him as he set me back on my feet. He grabbed my hands, frowning at the bandaged one, and looked at me. He bent over slightly to look me in the eyes and I held my breath. 

"I got it." He grinned at me and I screamed and yanked him down for another hug. 

"I'm so proud of you!" My voice was reaching Dog-Frequency.

"Ow." He laughed. "You're hurting my ears, babe." I pulled away from him and covered my mouth as I smiled and laughed in uncontrolled excitement. 

"Sorry. But, you're gonna be an apprentice! You've been dying to do this since we were teenagers." 

 

Lou and I had known each other since I started with the Scouts. I'd met him at this Cafe and we became friends when I'd seen his drawing and plopped down across from him and asked him to teach me to draw. I had a little talent, but he helped me to become the artist I was today. Lou had been wary at first when I questioned him about his eyes - the golden colour only visible to Others, or Seers, and was a sure sign that he was a Mage and not just a Street Wizard (the people that wield magic through no supernatural ability beyond the potions they brew and the wards or glamours they weave). He hadn't met a Seer before me, and had been worried that I'd try to kill him. When I assured him I wouldn't he seemed to relax, and over time we became close friends.

 

He was a quiet guy that usually kept to himself, but when we became friends he opened up. In fact, I was the first person he came out to. We ended up getting a job at the Cafe together, and he kept up with his magick lessons; learning from old books we found in old bookstores, and me smuggling out books from the Compound, and then he managed to earn enough to get a tutor. He had a natural talent for illusions and conjuring, but he really wanted to learn  _everything_ there was to do with magick, and he'd told me about this apprenticeship with a master - a woman who lived in the forest way up north - and had decided he was going to apply. Of course, there was a competition between all of the hopefuls. And apparently Lou had won. 

"I know. It still hasn't sunk in yet. But I'm going to miss you." He pouted at me and I pushed him playfully. 

"Oh, shut up. You know that we have phones, and I can always come an visit. And," I narrowed my eyes at him, "I know that you're able to do that Harry Potter shit with fire. Just pop in and say hey. I'll keep a candle lit for you." I laughed at him when he rolled my eyes. He smiled at Levi, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. Like most people, he was intimidated by the small, brooding man. 

"Hey, Levi." Levi just drunk his tea and nodded in acknowledgement. 

"We're going to the Underground, but once we're done I'll come and see you and we can catch up properly, okay?" He smiled at me and nodded happily. 

"Of course. I need to tell you about Pete, too." 

"Ooh, do I smell a holiday romance?" I fanned myself and he blushed. 

"Well, we're still in contact, and-" He stopped himself as he glanced around and whispered in my ear. 

"You didn't!" I screeched. I glanced around the room sheepishly as people looked at us. "Well. I guess bang goes the five date rule, then." I mumbled to him. He apparently heard since he turned red, but I smiled at him and gave him one last hug before I took my tea and gestured for Levi to follow. 

I bit into my muffin and moaned, throwing my head back and closing my eyes. The muffin tasted  _outstanding_ and the Peace shot flooded through my body making me feel warm. An aura settled over me like a blanket and felt calming and soothing. I shoved the muffin in Levi's face and ordered him to take a bite. He frowned at me, but after a short argument and a threat to stuff it down his throat, he took a piece and ate it. Levi made a similar noise to the one I made, and I couldn't help but laugh. Outside of a sexual situation, it was so out of character that it was hilarious. It was  _definitely_ magick. 

"Shut up." He muttered at me, and I could swear that I saw his cheeks turn slightly pink as he stormed off ahead and lit up a cigarette. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and enjoyed the little look into the lives of the Seers and the kids of the Compound, and a little bit more Urban in the Urban Fantasy AU. This was another of my favourites, tbh.  
> And honestly, I've noticed that I've become sassier in person since writing this. Like, the sass may not be great in the fic, but apparently it's good in real life because I've had a few reactions - and some from the builders that are doing work on my house... 
> 
> So, yeah. Let me know what you think. I'm actually going to be writing an SCP based fic, but I think I may just keep it to original characters and just set it in the Foundation with the actual SCPs themselves in it. I've become obsessed in the space of a goddamned day. Casual? What's casual?? 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, and Request <3


	11. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally, kill me. I've been so horrendous with writing recently, and especially with updating my fics. I'm sorry. But, I have an update for you guys, and I just hope you like it.

The club was playing some horrendous music. It wasn’t terrible in the traditional way - the tune was decent and any Regular would probably have felt compelled to dance in the most provocative and primal way possible - but to a Seer, it was wrong. It just set me on edge, but I still had the Peace in my system so it took the edge off considerably. The first time I came here I’d felt sick, I was shaking, and I ran out almost instantly. That was the reason I’d found the cafe in the first place; someone had suggested that I get a shot of Peace to calm the effects. 

 

People were gyrating and grinding on each other, and the Demons and Fae prowled through the crowds. Incubi and Succubi looking for a feast, the Demons either looking for sinners, or to corrupt innocents, and the regular Fae that were just there to lose themselves in the Primal drumbeats of the music. It wasn’t quite Fae music - otherwise the Regulars would be here forever - but it was close. I spotted a couple of Hunters prowling the crowds, too. Whether they were looking for their quarry, or a lover for the night, I didn’t know.

 

I glanced back and Levi and saw a snarl of disgust on his face. The smell of sweat and something I couldn’t quite identify was strong in the air, and the close quarters and the heat didn’t help. I could tell Levi loathed this place; the closeness to strangers, the physical contact with people that were sweating and running their hands over other sweaty bodies was surely driving him crazy. I weaved through the crowd and made it to the bar where there was a sound barrier. The music quieted considerably so you could hear other people talking. A dark haired man in a suit was shaking a cocktail and when he noticed me prowling closer a feline smile spread across his face. 

“Hello, darling.” He purred. I smiled at him, not quite a friendly smile, but not a hostile one either. 

“Hello, Jonah.” 

“What brings you here at this early hour?” He flipped the shaker and a group of women applauded. He smirked at them and poured their drinks, eye contact lingering on the last woman making her blush a bright crimson. 

“Oh, I just couldn’t be apart from you another moment. You know how much I love that silver tongue of yours.” Jonah leaned on the bar and smiled lazily at me. 

“You know, you’d like it a whole lot more if you let me show you what it can  _ really _ do.” His eyebrow quirked in suggestion and I just smiled at him broadly, a light chuckle dancing from my lips. 

“I don’t think Levi would be too happy about that. He’s awfully protective of me, hence why he’s accompanied me here.” I leaned in to whisper in Jonah’s ear. “Short Man Syndrome.” I winked at Jonah and he laughed at me. 

 

Jonah was an Incubus, hence why he worked at the bar and was constantly flirting with the women, and any gay men that were around. It was amusing to watch him flirt with a man that was with a woman and see him thoroughly confused (his favourite game was to tease and seduce the men that didn’t realise they were gay or bisexual, or even men that were denying it). Jonah looked Levi up and down once and looked at me. 

“He’s not very friendly, is he?” Irritation in his voice. 

“He’s just a germaphobe, ignore him.” I slid onto a stool and maintained eye contact with him. I could hear Levi click his tongue and nearly kicked him in the shin as soon as he took a seat beside me, scooting the stool closer to me. “So, Jonah. What’s new around here.” 

“Oh, Y/N, you hurt me. Here I was thinking you’d come here for pleasure.” 

“Well, who says you can’t mix the two?” I smirked at him and his smile made a chill slither down my spine. It was predatory. 

“Hmm, well then, let me think.” His voice was husky and he inched closer. 

 

I didn’t move at all, keeping my mask of seductive amusement on my face, hoping I hadn’t flinched as he approached. All my senses were screaming at me to get out of here, even with the effects of the Peace in my blood. I could see Jonah’s nostrils flaring and I knew that he was smelling me. “Your dear Lewis has returned from the sticks, there’s a whisper that a little Seer has been discovered,” a gleam in Jonah’s eyes made me mentally curse Arelith.  _ That big mouthed Brownie _ . “The Merpeople have been temperamental lately, and the Other Realm is shuddering.” My breathing hitched and Levi’s eyes flicked up to make eye contact with Jonah. 

“What do you mean?” He asked him in a bored tone. Jonah frowned slightly but answered nonetheless. 

“There’s been a disturbance over there. A Goddess raging between the Realms.” 

“What is she raging about?” He shrugged. 

“Oh, who knows with those lot. They’re all far too uptight. They never have  _ fun _ .” He considered both Levi and I for a moment. “But the real question is, why do two Seers want to know about a God?” 

“Well, if there’s a God throwing a tantrum it’s pretty big. Could be dangerous.” I answered cooly, nonchalantly.  

“Mmm.” 

 

Jonah turned and grabbed a glass, setting it down in front of me and began to mix something. I watched him carefully, his movements quick yet precise. He kept eye contact with me the whole time and I had to physically restrain myself from reaching over to Levi and clutching on to him. I could see him from the corner of my eye pinning him with an icy look. Time was running out on his fuse, and the Peace would only last so long, especially in this environment. The music and our sense was wearing it down, thrashing on the fragile little shield we’d consumed. He set the concoction in front of me and I just smiled at him. 

“So, what is this Goddess’ name? Maybe I can figure out what she’s raging about. Try to help.” Jonah clicked his tongue at me, a finger wagging. 

“You Seers are so nosy. Always prying.” 

“It’s our job to protect people, you forget.” 

“Ah, yes, but why don’t you save yourself for once?” He’d leaned closer to me as he whispered. Levi’s jaw clenched; I could see the muscle moving from here. 

“What do you mean?” 

“She’s been heard talking about a Seer that is hunting her. She’s rather put out, darling. I wouldn’t go near her.” His voice was low and dangerous, but his face had a lazy smile. 

 

Jonah’s finger was drawing slow and wide circles on my hand. My eyebrow quirked up as I smirked ever so slightly. I moved my hand abruptly and grabbed my drink with it. Jonah chuckled and stood up straight. The drink was too sweet and I instantly knew he’d finally spiked my drink. I’d been expecting him to do it at some point, and it was a little annoying that he’d chosen today. 

“Why don’t you let me make that decision?” I lowered my voice to a husky tone, looking up at him through my lashes slightly. 

“I don’t know her name. She’s an old God; one that predates even my creator.”  _ Well fuck. _ “But I hear that she’s looking for something.” 

“Oh?” He nodded. 

“She’s been turning this world and the next over to find something.” 

“It must be important then. Let’s hope no one else finds it first.” A glimmer of amusement flickered over his face. 

“She  _ would _ be mad.” 

 

My vision was starting to tremble like the heatwaves on the horizon on a summer afternoon and I knew my time was up. I kept my face hidden under my mask and rose from the stood, trying to keep my balance as the world started to move. As I turned my back on Jonah I looked at Levi and signalled with my eyes for the door. 

“Where are you going, darling? You haven’t finished your drink.” he purred to me. I looked over my shoulder at him and shrugged. 

“It’s too sweet for my tastes.” 

“I see you  _ do  _ have a particular liking for sour things.” His eyes travelled over Levi and I snorted at him. “Maybe next time.” Jonah winked at me and I walked off. I had no doubt that he was watching me walk away. 

 

The music hit me as we walked out of the wards, and I felt sick instantly. I groaned and leaned on Levi to keep my balance as a male Fae hit me with his dancing. His hand rested on my lower back and I kept on walking, my movements feeling slow and thick, like I was walking through molasses. The music set my nerves on edge and I grit my teeth and blinked my eyes a few times to try to sharpen my focus. My breathing became faster and I could hear my breaths echoing in my head like I was walking through a tunnel. 

“Levi...I’ve been...spiked.” I panted to him. Speaking was an effort, and walking was quickly becoming impossible. He cursed under his breath and went to pick me up and I used the last of my strength to stop him. “No. The Others… they’ll see weakness… push me out… instead.” I grit my teeth and kept my head up. 

 

The music was making my head throb, the voice calling out to me to get away, but I also felt a rising urge to dance. I had a warmth in my core, and I could feel an urge to grind my body against another’s as the music pounded, the drum beats in the background primal and commanding. My hips started swaying - a small movement - and I pushed myself to take a step forward. Levi’s hand pushed me forward as his chest hit my back and I leaned back instinctively, hips moving back into his. 

“Quick.” I begged him. If I got caught down here, drugged and dancing… I knew Jonah would be on me in an instant. After I built up a sexual frustration dancing with the others in the room, anyway. 

 

He shoved me through the crowds, pushing our way through the writhing bodies, and to the exit. I pulled myself up the stairs, growls of frustration burning my throat and tears of effort breaking free. “ _ Come on! _ ” I tried to motivate myself to move. A few more steps. Just a few more steps. My ankle rolled and I fell into Levi’s waiting arms. I clumsily pulled my shoes off and clutched them in my hand and continued forcing myself up the stairs. I glanced to my left and saw the people in the club. They were like a nest of vipers. If you’ve ever seen the scene in Anaconda where the snakes are breeding… that’s basically what I could see in this room. Jonah was watching me, arms resting on the bar, and a smirk on his face. I could feel my face move into a smile, my eyes raking down his body, and I willed myself to pull my eyes away from him and to the door. One more step. Just one more. 

 

Cold air hit me from the alleyway. The fresh smells of the bins and the urine and vomit were all better than the stale smells in there. It was pure pheromones I’d decided. Levi scooped me up in his arms as the door banged to a close and I rested my head on his chest panting. It was a relief to not have to walk. My hands seemed to move on their own, travelling over the plains of his chest, and up his neck. 

“What are you doing?” Levi growled at me. 

“I’m sorry… I can’t help it.” My voice came out breathy and desperate. Levi’s slate grey eyes drifted down to my face for a second before he looked back out onto the street. “I think it was… a love spell. Or a potion.” I groaned. I wish I could say the groaning was because of the pain in my side, but it wasn’t. These groans were entirely sexual. “Get… sleep tea.” I urged him. My chest heaved against him and I dragged my nose up his neck, my tongue peeking out to taste his skin. I pressed a kiss to his neck, a light feathery one, and I could feel him swallow. “Please?” It was a breathy whisper, a desperate plea, and I wasn’t sure what I was asking for any more. The magick was slowly taking over my body, and pretty soon I wouldn’t be in control at all. Jonah had obviously given me something with a lust spell in it. 

 

My hands were clutching at his shirt in an attempt to regain some control, but my face remained in the crook of his neck. I concentrated on the smell of cigarettes and soap, and that warm musky scent of him. I groaned and my hips bucked slightly.  _ Not helping Y/N. Bad decision. _ If anything, that was driving me wilder. 

“Keep fucking still.” Levi’s voice sounded tight. 

“Sorry.” I breathed as Levi walked through the door of the cafe. I noticed Lou looking at us in alarm. Most people were watching warily as we walked to the counter and Lou came to meet us. 

“She was spiked.” 

“What with?”

“If I knew that, I could fix it myself.” Levi growled at Lou. I could feel the vibration in his chest and my head rolled back as a moan built in my throat. 

“Lust.” I breathed out. 

“Sit her on the counter. I’ll make something to counter it.” Levi sat me down as Lou grabbed some things and set to work. 

 

I gazed at Levi as I grabbed him by the waistband and pulled him closer to me, pulling him between my legs. Levi just watched me, making eye contact with me, and I noticed his pupils dilate, I noticed him swallow, I saw the way his jaw clenched, the muscles jumping under the skin, and I noticed the flare of his nostrils as he took a deep breath. 

“Here.” Lou passed Levi a cup and he raised his eyebrow at him. “It’ll be easier for you to offer it to her…” he hesitated before continuing “she seems  _ receptive _ to you.” a wry smile spread on his face and I watched as Levi took the cup. 

 

I could feel a pulse of excitement course through my body as he reached out his hand to cup the back of my head. My body leaned forward as my head tipped back slightly, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from his. I could see that Levi’s breathing was slightly laboured, and that just made the excitement pulse harder. I swallowed the drink and pulled a face. It tasted like dirty drain water and I instantly leaned forward and my head hit Levi shoulder. 

“What the fuck did I just give her?” 

“It’s Green Tea with a strong dose of Sloth. She was reacting quite strongly to the Lust, so I had to counter it.” Lou sounded apologetic. All I could see was Levi’s shoulder and I didn’t have the energy, or the willpower, to lift my head. “You’ll have to carry her home and then she’ll sleep it all off.” I groaned in an attempt to thank him. I felt a hand rub my back and heard Lou chuckle. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’ll see you later.” He pressed a kiss to my head and went back to work. 

 

I groaned again in farewell as Levi picked me up again. My head just lulled to the side, my eyes drooping, and my body just slack in Levi’s arms. I felt like I had no energy at all, like my body was just a husk. I briefly wondered how much Sloth he’d put in that damn tea… Sloth was usually used by people who were too wired to sleep, people that fidgeted constantly, or just couldn’t relax in general. It was supposed to make you mellow, not a great slab of useless meat. If we were attacked right now, I’d be royally screwed. 

“Levi!” It sounded like Hanji, and I heard a car slow next to us. “What’s up with Y/N?” 

“She was spiked.” He grunted in reply. I heard a car door open and then suddenly I was lying on seats. I would have complained at the way I was dropped in the backseat, but it just felt too good to be  _ lying  _ down. 

 

My last conscious thought was about how damn comfortable I was as the car’s motion lulled me to sleep. 

 

 

*******

 

 

I had to admit, as funny as it was, I did feel a little bit bad for them. Because of my little Lust fueled sleep, I had missed my class. However, they had all turned up. Levi woke me up by flinging me out of the bed and growling at me about the classroom full of kids that were currently sat in  my classroom. I flung myself up - or tried to at least since the Sloth was still hanging around my system - and I padded to the classroom in my pyjamas. 

 

Erwin was sat in my seat talking with the kids, and they all turned as I entered the room. I smiled at them sheepishly and crossed to Erwin. 

“I’m so sorry, guys. I’m handling the after effects of a little incident last night.” I turned to Erwin. “I’m sorry, Erwin. I forgot to mention this… punishment to you guys. And of course I passed out before I had a chance to mention it after the trip.” Erwin just nodded, no smile on his face. 

“What are they being punished for, might I ask?” I looked at the class and raised an eyebrow. 

“Well, would one of you care to explain our little lesson today? And whilst you’re at it, you can tell me  _ exactly  _ how you summoned the spirit.” Erwin’s eyebrows rose and he stared at the class. Everyone looked around at each other sheepishly and Zach glanced at Dylan, who glared at the boy. “Dylan? You seem to be pretty annoyed. Care to explain?” He hesitated, but one look at Erwin had him explaining. 

“We just… I don’t know. We sort of lit some candles and asked a spirit to come forward.” I looked at the ceiling in exasperation. 

“Seriously? Fucking backstreet summoning? You couldn’t even stretch to a homemade Ouija Board?” I gripped the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger and took a measured breath. 

“Did anyone object at all?” Erwin asked. A few tentative hands went up. 

“Oh, great. So, you objected, but didn’t come and inform an adult that some stupid bullshittery was going on? Smart, kids. Real fucking smart. Well, you know what time it is now, don’t you?” Blank faces looked at me and I smiled at them. “Lecture time. I’m about to tell you _exactly_ why that kind of backstreet summoning is a bad idea.”

“Brat, I have a better idea.” Levi interjected. Everyone gaped at the usually stoic man’s smile. I raised my eyebrow in question, and fought back a guffaw of laughter at his suggestion. “Hanji.” 

“Excellent idea.” Erwin agreed. “She’ll be more than happy to tell you all about it.” 

 

Levi, Erwin, and I all left the room and I stopped them just outside. I had my doubts, and voiced them quite freely. I didn't think Hanji wasn’t exactly the best idea for giving a stern lecture. 

“Won’t she unintentionally tell them the  _ proper  _ way to summon a spirit? We don’t want them doing it at all.” Erwin shook his head. 

“I’ve seen her go nuclear on people for doing something like this. She may not be the safest with her experiments, but there is a reason she keeps herself to the basement and wards it so extensively. She cares about the safety of these kids far too much to endanger them.” 

 

I nodded in understanding and we went to get Hanji. At least the kids would be getting their punishment - finally - and I could let everyone know what Levi and I had found out from Jonah.  _ She’s looking for something. _

“Care to explain yesterday?” Levi asked and I looked at him sheepishly. 

“There’s nothing to explain. We got some intel from the Other Realm version of Gossip Girl, and then he spiked my drink.” 

“How often have you been down there?” 

“More than you’d like.” I grimaced. “Too many times.” 

“I don’t like him.” I side eyed Levi and snorted. 

“You don’t like anyone.” After a moment I spoke again. “I don’t like him either. He’s… different for me.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“C’mon, Levi.” I looked right at him, my eyelids still a little heavy from the Sloth, “He’s an Incubus. I’m his prey, you’re not. And I can actually  _ feel _ it.” The slow and menacing claws raking down the inside of my head were unnerving. It was completely different from the music. The music is just a net that you can escape if you know how. But the claws are  _ personal _ . You know that you’re marked, that you’ve been chosen, and there’s very little you can actually do. And the nausea, the chills I get all through my body… “It’s horrible knowing that when everyone else is so oblivious.” 

“Don’t go down there again.” I looked at him and shook my head, a small apologetic smile on my face. 

“I may have to.” 

“Then you’re not going without me.” I snorted at him once more. 

“You just like me moaning and writhing in your arms, admit it.” Levi looked at me, a dark look of desire in his eyes, and his lips tilted into a very slight smirk. I bit my lip and tried to keep my breathing steady as Levi came behind me, his body pressed close, and I could feel his breath on my neck, my ear, hot and seductive. 

“I won’t deny that I liked seeing you all lusty and wanting, but the next time you’re like that…” he ran his nose up my neck and nuzzled it behind my ear, almost like I’d done to him yesterday. Goosebumps ran up my arms and my breathing hitched. My eyes fluttered closed as I leaned my head away to allow him better access. “It’ll be because of me, not because some magick has tricked you into feeling like that.” 

 

I could feel his lips on my neck, light and frustratingly delicate, as he spoke, and then he pressed gentle kisses starting behind my ear and trailing down my neck. His hands ghosted over my hips and my waist, there but not quite, and I had slowed my pace considerably. 

“Keep moving,  Y/N.” He ordered, his voice low and knee meltingly sexy. A small groan left my mouth and I was sure I could feel him smirk against my skin. I started to walk again and he stuck close to me, leaving no room between us. I felt teeth scrape over the part where my neck joins with my shoulder, pulling a gasp from me. 

“When this debriefing is finished… I’m going to take you to my office, and I’m going to show you just how much better real lust can be, Y/N.” My name sounded delicious the way he said it, and the warmth that pooled in my gut made me breathless, and wanting.

 

And just like that, he was gone. Leaving me behind in a weak and dazed state. I quickly composed myself and went after them, heading towards the basement to fetch Hanji and tell them what we’d found out. Ignoring the discomfort of my arousal, of course. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry that this update was so damn late!! I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you to all you patient and amazing people that have commented and left kudos on this. You're all Angels!!! <3 
> 
> Comment, Kudos, Request. 
> 
> Much Love,   
> Kit xxx


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, okay, this chapter is mainly smut. No real plot progression here at all. You have been warned :P

Levi had chosen to stand across from me, keeping his eyes fixed to mine, his intentions for me quite clear. It was hard to think straight, especially with that miniscule smirk of his. That bastard knew exactly what he’d done to me, and I couldn’t bring myself to hate him for it. I just knew that I’d get him back for it later. Maybe not today, but sometime. 

“Hanji, we need you to give a lecture to Y/N’s class,” Hanji’s face lit up at Erwin’s words, “about why Backstreet Summoning is a bad idea, especially within the Compound.” Hanji’s face turned confused and she looked at me. Dragging my eyes away from Levi I explained the situation to her. 

“There was a Shadow Person in my class, following them all, and I found out that they’d decided it would be fun to summon a spirit.” I swallowed thickly and kept my eyes away from Levi. 

 

I could feel his eyes boring into me, dragging them over every inch of my body, and I had never been more glad that I was wearing my shorts and a tank. Instead, I concentrated on Hanji’s dark look - anger that I’d never seen before - and tried not to squirm at the wetness that Levi had elicited. 

“Before you go, Levi and I need to tell you what we found out.” Everyone turned to me and looked expectant. “Jonah told us that there is a Goddess that is raging between worlds.” I hesitated and Erwin noticed that I had more to tell. I looked into his eyes, unable to look away as I told him. “She’s looking for something,” 

“Like a weapon?” Armin asked. I looked at him and shook my head. 

“I don’t think so. I hope so, but, no, I doubt it.” 

“You have a theory?” Erwin asked and I nodded, looking back at him. 

“If she was locked away, yet she can break our wards easily enough, then… maybe she’s not at full power.” I chewed my lip nervously. “Maybe, maybe they siphoned away her power before they locked her away.” Everyone frowned and I could see they were doubting my theory, but I pressed on. Something in the back of my mind felt like I was on the right track. “Think about it. All this fear she commands, yet she’s  _ done _ nothing but look. There’ve been no deaths, no destruction… nothing. So, she mustn’t have the power that she’s known for.” 

“It’s a possibility.” Erwin mused. “We shouldn’t rule it out.” 

“I agree with El Capitano, here.” Hanji nodded before looking at me. “Is that all? Because I have a lecture that I’m desperate to give.” My eyes widened and I nodded, stepping aside to let her out the door. 

 

She marched off with determination, and I felt sorry for the kids. Before I could think about anything else, everybody else filed out of the room to go and tend their chores for the day, and it was just Levi and I. Alone. My breathing sped up, remembering his words, and the familiar heat pooled once more. I watched as Levi slowly stalked to me and I shivered in anticipation. 

 

He walked me back into the wall, staring down as me as I backed up, hunger in his eyes. When I couldn’t go any further he dipped his head and pressed a kiss to my sternum, then to my collarbone, then to my neck. All the while he was watching me, I could feel him. He pressed light kisses up my neck and to my ear, dragging his teeth slowly down my earlobe. I couldn’t suppress the shudder that went through me. 

“I’m going to take my time with you, brat.” He murmured into my ear. All I could do was nod breathlessly. I felt his hand wrap around my lower back and pull me closer. “I’m going to take you to my office…” his nose was nuzzling my ear again and his fingers were lazily tracing circles into my back, “lay you down on my desk…” his voice was husky and low and I let my eyes close, resting my cheek on his head, “and I’m going to explore every part of your body.” He pulled his head back and I struggled to open my eyes and focus on him. 

 

His eyes flicked to my mouth, and without thinking I leaned up to kiss him, desperate for some kind of  _ actual _ contact. But he backed off so our lips only barely brushed each other, torturing me more with this almost touching. I wanted his hands on me, I wanted his lips on me, I wanted his tongue to dance across my skin, tasting every part of me. I wanted my hands on him, my lips on him, I wanted to taste him. 

“Please.” My voice was no more than a breathy pant, a pathetic sound so full of need and longing that I expected him to laugh, to mock me. Instead, his eyes darkened more, and he gave me what I wanted. 

 

Finally his mouth took mine, his control loosening slightly, his need leaking out as ke kissed me. I groaned into his mouth at the contact, and he nipped at my lip, slipping his tongue inside when I gasped for air. The hand on my back pulled me into him tighter and I could feel how hard he was and it had me groaning again. He pulled on my hair making me tip my head back and he kissed my throat, his teeth grazing and nipping at the skin. I automatically threaded my hands through his hair and arched into him, his arms winding up my back to support me as I leaned into him, giving him better access to my throat. 

 

I could see why it was popular with the were-folk. Their primal instincts were to expose their throats to show submission, to show trust, and it was a well known kink for them - I’d heard a few of my old friends from the cafe talk about their lovers doing it, showing their dominance. And it felt incredible. Levi stopped too suddenly, taking my hand, his fingers threading through mine, and he led me out of the basement and to his office. 

 

The walk was tense. We were both breathing shallowly, our pace hurried. A few people tried to stop us, to ask us things, but Levi growled at them, snapping at them to leave us alone, and I felt a hot pulse shoot through my navel, making my breath shudder. We got to his office quickly, and Levi had me against the door. 

 

His face was a hair’s width from mine, our lips so close, but too far. Oh so far. I inched forwards to close the gap but Levi lazily avoided me, keeping our lips torturously close. I heard the lock click as I growled in frustration, my need making me desperate. 

“All good things come to those who wait, brat.” 

“But I need you now!” I whined, my hands clutching at his shirt and pulling down, hoping to get him to lean just a bit closer. He just raised an eyebrow at me, his head shaking slowly as he gazed directly into my eyes. 

“You think you need me…” his eyes flicked to my mouth and back, “but just wait. I’ll have you begging me for release soon enough…” his pupils were wide and his gaze unwavering. He dipped his head forwards and our lips brushed for a moment in an almost kiss before he danced away again, “and you’ll wonder how you were so naive to think that  _ this _ was what need felt like.” I moaned, closing my eyes and letting my head fall onto the door. 

 

Hands. Hands wondering over my stomach. Hands on my back. Lips. Lips on my throat. Lips pressing too gently.

“Look at me, Y/N.” Quiet, gentle, but commanding. I didn’t think I could open my eyes. They were too heavy. Levi nipped harder at my collarbone. “Look at me.” He was going to kill me. If my eyes had have been open, they’d have rolled backwards in sheer ecstacy at the throaty tone of his voice. And this was without  _ doing _ anything. A vague thought flitted through my mind about how intense this would be later, but it faded out when a sharp pain had me gasping, and my head snapping up. 

 

The fog of pleasure cleared slightly as I realised that he’d bitten down on the muscle connecting my neck and shoulder. He just looked at me, eyeing my carefully, missing nothing, and said, 

“I told you to look at me.” He took a half step closer so that I was flush against the door, and he was flush against me. 

“Please, Levi…” I trailed off in a breathless pant, the fog returning. He just leaned closer. 

“What do you want?” 

“... touch me.” I looked at him, feeling his breath on me, and I looked him straight in the eyes. “Please, take me. Fuck me.  _ Something. _ ”

 

His smirk was infuriating, but he lifted me up and my legs instantly wound around him, pinning him to me. My hands gripped the back of his neck, and through my haze I decided that I’d get him back. I wasn’t going to let him have all of the fun. I dipped my head to his neck and pressed featherlight kisses to the skin, dragging my teeth gently just as he had. From how I was wrapped around him, I could feel him pressed against me, deliciously hard, and I rocked my hips gently. He gripped my thighs tightly and I smirked at him as he glazed over for a moment. I smirked at him. 

“You didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun, did you?” He growled at me and walked us over to the desk, sitting me on top of it.

“I don’t care what dirty tricks you use, I’m still going to take my time with you.” 

 

He kissed me then, gentle and restrained, and his hands rested on my thighs lightly. They travelled up slowly, too slowly, and I vaguely registered Levi’s tongue flicking out, asking for entrance. His hands reached my hips, his fingers curling slightly, playing at the waistband of my pyjama shorts. His tongue again asked for entrance, but I was too focused on his hands; hands that were travelling under the camisole I was wearing, his fingers leaving burning sensations across my too sensitive skin. 

 

I gasped as he bit down on my lower lip, tugging at it, demanding my attention, and he claimed my mouth. I let him. At that point I’d have let him do anything to me. It just felt too good to be  _ touched _ finally. His hands wound around to my back, nails digging slightly, scratching me in the most amazing way. My back arched into him and I moaned out my pleasure. He pulled away from the kiss, his hands withdrawing, and I felt a flicker of fear that he’d stop altogether. 

 

He didn’t. 

 

His hands grasped the camisole and pulled it from my body, revealing the bralette I was wearing yesterday - whoever had wrestled me into my pyjamas last night I was grateful to - and he ran his hands across it, tossing the top somewhere in the room. His thumbs ran over my nipples eliciting a sudden gasp of pleasure, and a shudder through my body.He flicked my nipples again, causing my body to shudder once more, a curse to leave my mouth, and a smirk to appear on his face. His stupid, handsome, arsehole face.

 

Deciding that he was much too dressed I grabbed his shirt and wrenched it up, and to my surprise he helped me to take it off, tossing it wherever he had tossed mine. My hands travelled over his firm body, the pale skin like a furnace, and I pulled him closer, trapping him between my legs once more. He pulled the bralette from my body and then lay me down on the desk, pushing my chest. He dragged his eyes over my body, appraising me, drinking me in, and I threw back my head in frustration. When I looked back at him, he was looking into my eyes, and the look there made my mouth go dry and butterflies go wild. 

 

He slowly leaned down, as if the room was made of molasses, eyes trained on mine, and his lips touched mine. My breasts brushed his chest, nipples singing out at the contact, and I could feel Levi’s breathing hitch. He was hard, and I wondered how the hell he was being so damn restrained. Even in the midst of passion he was still infuriating. 

 

The kiss was beautiful; it was tender, and I couldn’t help but feel loved, adored, worshipped. One hand was gently holding my face, the other was on my thigh, keeping it wrapped closely against him as if he was worried I’d fall away from him forever. He groaned suddenly and it was then that I realised that I was rocking my hips into him, trying to alleviate the tension that had coiled unbearably at my core. He said nothing as he trailed his hands to my waistband, fingers hooking under, and he pulled my shots and underwear off in one smooth motion, his lips never leaving mine. 

 

His hands stayed braced on my hips as he pulled away from my mouth. He travelled down my neck, pressing kisses as he went and I could feel the tip of his tongue peeking out, gently tasting my skin. He travelled down the whole length of my body, stopping to flick and nip at each nipple as he went. My breathing became shallower and more shaky the lower he got. Down, down… down. 

 

At my navel, just above where I wanted him to be, he slowly licked a stripe up the centre of my body; up my stomach, up the valley of my breasts, up my throat, stopping at my chin. I ground into him, completely unaware that I was doing it, and he clenched his teeth, his eyes glazing over a moment. 

“Please, Levi…” I begged as I grasped his face placing a desperate kiss on his perfect lips. The same lips that had been teasing me for who knows how long. How long  _ had _ it been? I didn’t care. 

“What?” 

“I need you… please… I can’t…”

“Can’t what?” His voice was cool and calm, totally at odds with my desperate panting and whining.

“I can’t… I want you to fuck me. Please… fuck me, let me come.” I begged. No doubt I’d cringe at how needy I was later, but right now I didn’t give a shit. I needed some kind of relief, and the prick kept pulling my hands away everytime I tried. A chuckle sounded. 

“I’m not going to fuck you, Y/N. Not yet, at least.” I growled in frustration as he teased my nipples. Flicking, niping, sucking, licking, kissing. 

 

Levi finally fell to his knees, nudging my legs apart as he pulled me off the desk slightly. His hands were getting so close, his kisses so close, tongue so close. 

“You’re so wet, Y/N.” His voice was husky and the sound of my name alone threatened to make me come undone. I gasped, my back arching off the desk, as he licked me firmly, his tongue hitting me where I’d been praying for since he started with his teasing. He did it a few more times, each time slow but firm, and I couldn’t help but grind my hips down to get as much friction as I could. 

 

After that, his tongue began to move. He inserted a finger in me and I cursed. Loudly. I couldn’t think straight; all I could focus on was his tongue and the fingers that he had in me, the coil that was tightening, and the soft scraping of his nails against the underside of my thigh. My toes curled as I got closer - as Levi brought me closer - and Levi sucked on my clit firmly and I lost my hold. My back arched as my fingers scratched at the table; Levi’s fingers still making their beckoning motion, his suction on me not wavering, and he peeked up at me as pleasure washed over me. I knew that I was making a noise, but i couldn’t focus enough to care, not when I was finally having one of the best orgasms of my life.

 

When the haze cleared slightly, I realised that I’d arched up so much that I’d propped myself up on my arms, head thrown back in the ecstasy that Levi had plunged me into. He had stood up now, hands resting on either side of my body, and he was nuzzling my neck gently; sweetly. 

“I like it when you say my name when you come.” He told me. I managed to pull my head up to look him in the eyes. His pupils were blown wide with lust. 

“Oh, so that’s what I was saying.” Levi just chuckled. 

“Looks like I fucked you senseless, then.” 

“Not yet.” I smirked, mimicking his earlier taunts.

 

Now that the fog had finally lifted, I could think straight. I was already unbuttoning his jeans and nipping at his neck, not being nearly as gentle as he had been. He didn’t seem to mind if the noises he was making were anything to go by. I slid from the desk and onto my knees in one swift movement, taking his jeans and underwear as I went. He just kicked them off as I smiled up at him, biting my bottom lip slightly at the sight of him exposed in front of me. I blew on his cock and he moaned a faint curse, breathless already, making my giggle. I looked up at him as I flicked my tongue gently over the tip, seeing him watch me, his eyes glazed over as he sucked in a breath. 

 

I gripped him gently and licked him from the bottom all the way to the top, slowly, and I relished the throaty moan he made as his head lulled back. I kissed him softly along the shaft, letting my tongue peek out from between my lips, and I felt his hand cup my face gently. I looked up at him and he shook his head gently. I tilted my head in confusion, and, wordlessly, Levi offered me a hand. I took it and he pulled me up, leading me to the chair. He sat down and pulled me with him, and i realised what he wanted. 

 

I straddled him, letting his cock rest behind me as he cupped my buttocks, and looked into his eyes. The were gentle; still filled with lust but the edge had gone. 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to hold on very long, and I’d rather make love to you right now.” he told me, his voice throaty and low. 

“Do you have protection?” Wordlessly, he spun the seat around and opened a drawer. He took out a packet and I pulled it from his hand. “I’ll do it.” I smirked at him as I extracted myself from him and knelt before him. I looked him square in the eye as I rolled it on with my mouth, watching him rest his head on the seat, feeling his hands grip my hair, hearing the light moan he made. 

 

As soon as it was on he grabbed me and pulled me back onto his lap, hand cupping the back of my neck, and brought me in for a kiss. Our tongues met as we instantly deepened the kiss, sharing our passion with the other. One hand was in my hair, the other was braced on my back, and I had gripped his face with my hands gently, as if afraid he would disappear. My hips rocked up and down, I could feel his cock resting on me, and we both sighed with the contact, our breaths mingling. 

“Y/N.” His voice was breathy and pleading, and I was all too happy to oblige. 

 

I raised up slightly and positioned him at my entrance before lowering myself onto him slowly, sheathing him completely inside of me, and stayed still a moment letting my body accommodate him. I dipped my head and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips to get his attention. His head was back on the seat, eyes closed, and his hands had fallen to my hips as he gripped me tightly. His eyes flicked open and I smiled. 

“Hold me.” I whispered. 

 

Levi sat up straighter, shifting us in the seat so he was no longer lounging, and he wrapped his arms around me, his arms laying flat on my back, one hand splayed between my shoulders and the other in my hair. I hooked my hands around the back of his neck as I began to move my hips, rocking back and forth on him. The friction felt good, and I felt so deliciously full as I kissed him once more. His eyes opened and we just looked into the others eyes as I rode him, meeting each of his gentle thrusts with my own, rolling my hips rhythmically. As we got closer to the edge Levi sped up a fraction, light curse words punctuated by my name escaping in each of his breaths. 

 

I unhooked my hands from his neck and gripped his face, resting my forehead against his. He nuzzled my nose with his own and I couldn’t help but smile, opening my eyes. He was watching my, his eyes glassy with pleasure. 

“I love you.” Those three words accompanied my orgasm, his name a litany on my tongue, the only thing I was able to think of at that point in time, feeling my pleasure rolling from my body as I felt him placing erratic kisses on my throat. Levi came, not long after me, crying out my name, biting down on the base of my neck. I kept rolling my hips, helping him to ride out his pleasure, and he held me tightly to him, burying his face into the crook of my neck, kissing where he had bitten just seconds before.

“I love you, too.” I told him, finally able to speak, and he hummed at me. 

 

Once he’d regained control of himself, Levi lifted me off of him and pulled me closer so I was sat sideways on his lap, my legs across his, and I automatically snuggled into him. My head was resting on his shoulder and my nose rested on the base of his throat, and I would occasionally nuzzle him or press a kiss to him, enjoying the feel of his fingers gently drawing patterns into my skin. I knew we’d have to move, but I was too reluctant. I opened my mouth to say something, but Levi got there first. 

“Just enjoy the silence for once, brat.” I huffed at him, even though I knew he was right, and came back at him. 

“I was just going to say that it looks like  _ now _ you fucked me senseless.” I could feel the chuckle vibrate through his chest and I just sighed happily, allowing myself to relax into his embrace, and enjoy this moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That... was my first ever smut scene. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry it wasn't a long chapter, it was around 3,900 words, but I didn't want to make it too long. It felt natural to end it where I did, so I did. 
> 
> I'm very much someone who believes in a lot of foreplay, so this is just something that I would personally enjoy... especially is Levi was doing the playing... 
> 
> What? I didn't say anything. Nope. Shut up. 
> 
>  
> 
> Comment, Kudos, Request <3 
> 
> Much love,   
> Kit xxx

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about maybe putting this on DeviantArt, too. My other SNK fics are on DA, so you may find this on there too. I'm using the same username as AO3 so if you have a DA account and are interested in following me on there, feel free to click the watch button :D 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. I laughed my arse off writing the dialogue, even if no one else finds it funny, I do. I'm THAT person that laughs at their own jokes, so nbd. 
> 
> Let me know if you find any errors or inconsistencies. I haven't proof read this, because I can't be bothered at the moment. 
> 
>  
> 
> Kudos, Comment, and Request <3


End file.
